Today we visited Tallulah Gorge state park, in far eastern Georgia, near both the SC and NC borders.  The gorge is nearly 2 miles long and over 1000 feet deep.

We didn’t have enough time to do proper hikes down to the base of the gorge – several hikes are 2-3 miles in length – but there are ample camping spots; Rita and Randy want to return here with their trailer and spend several days in this area to fully explore what the area offers.

We then continued to Toccoa to visit the newly re-constructed Camp Toccoa and Currahee mountain.

This was a WWII paratroop training center from 1942 to 1945.  It has been made famous as the training grounds for several parachute infantry regiments that were part of the 101st Airborne division.. highlighted in the book and mini-series “Band of Brothers” by Stephen Ambrose.

This base is only now being re-constructed to become a more formal tourist destination in the future.  In front you can see a Douglas C-47 Skytrain that is being restored – this was a typical airplane that was used to drop paratroops.

The most prominent local landmark is Currahee Mountain. Paratroopers in training ran from the camp up the mountain and back with the shout “three miles up, three miles down.” Members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment still refer to themselves as “Currahees”, derived from the Cherokee word meaning “standing alone”.

We managed to make the drive in our SUV three miles up, three miles down without breaking a sweat.

For those who may worry about Rita’s health on this trip, here she is balancing on a rock over the face of a cliff to get the right shot.

Kids come to the top and spray paint all over the rock faces.  There is a new organization (part of the Camp Toccoa effort) to come up here and clean things up for good and restrict access to vandalism won’t be possible.  There are a lot of people now who make the pilgrimage to this site to honor the 101st Airborne troops who led the invasion of D-Day, liberated Holland, defended Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, and made it all the way to Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.

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