Moonshine, Tigers, Wirewalking, and Training for D-Day

[Stretch]

This fellow is a Deputy Sheriff with the Rabun County, Georgia Sheriff's Office.  He's explaining the parts and functions of an illegal liquor still his office had confiscated.


This gent is a former moonshiner who served time for having been caught manufacturing untaxed whiskey.

The two fellows spent a couple hours telling stories, explaining fermentation and stills and transporting and selling illegal 'shine.  There was no animosity between the two.  It was all just business back in the day.  Now they're just recalling the old days of playing 'cat and mouse'.


This is a replica of the 1950 Ford Robert Mitchum drove in the movie "Thunder Road".


292 Ford V-8 with three 2-bbl carbs.  I didn't hear it run, unfortunately.


Loaded up for a run.


50-gallon stainless-steel tank for bulk runs.


In case those pesky revenooers get too close, oil from a pressurized tank is released onto the road from these nozzles under the rear bumper.  Sorry, 007.  Wild Southern boys beat you to it.  :mrgreen:


A local bluegrass band was playing for a couple hours.

One of their songs really got my attention:

"'Possum in my headlights tonight...
If I can run him over, everything'll be alright.
No feathers to pull, no cans to open.
'possum in my headlights tonight."

Had me in tears.  



Tallulah Gorge Overlook.  It's about 1000 feet to the other side, and 700 feet to the bottom.

In 1970, world-famous wire-walker Karl Wallenda walked a tightrope across the gorge.






Daft bastard.





Back on the road...

Zipped ten miles north to Tiger, Georgia...



The obligatory 'Tiger in front of the Tiger Post Office' shot.

This is also popular with the Sunbeam sports car crowd.



Back on the road...

The former Camp Toccoa army base is historically famous for having been home to the first U. S. Army Paratroopers as they trained during World War 2.  Camp Toccoa and its mountain Currahee  (Cherokee for "Stands Alone") have been made household words thanks to Stephen Ambrose's book (and the subsequent miniseries) "Band of Brothers".

I set out to find Mount Currahee.

Here 'tis...






In the movie, Colonel Sink was played by Dale Dye (a Marine Captain who served in Vietnam).



This memorial is at the site of Camp Toccoa's front gate, with 2.6 miles of loose gravel from here to the summit.

The Paratroopers frequently ran from their barracks to the summit, calling cadence as they ran... "Three Miles Up, Three Miles Down."

I did not run it.  But I was on my motorcycle, and it was running.  Maybe when I was an 18-year-old Marine.  Maybe.






Just about there.


Stone steps to the tower at the summit.


1874 feet, 900 feet above the surrounding countryside.








And those fellows ran up it all the time.

Absolute badasses.

[gatling]

Excellent report and photos.  And a special thanks from a former US Army paratrooper.

[HockleyBoy]

An interesting trip and some excellent pics.

Thanks :D

[CBAT]

Great report. I love the stories of the old moonshiners. With my relatives in West Virginia back woods it was applejack. My wife's family is from Forsythe County, is that anywhere close to Tiger?

[Stretch]

My wife's family is from Forsythe County, is that anywhere close to Tiger?

Not really.  Forsyth County is northeast of Atlanta, while Tiger is just south of Clayton, near the North Carolina line.

[CBAT]

Compared to most places in Texas, that is close. I ride an hour just to get to a good dirt road out here.  :lol:

[TigerTrax]

Stretch...
I used to be stationed in Albany, GA ....  late 1960's...

Every Sunday night at 8pm on the radio was a show called the
'Revenuers'.
It was a 30 minute program where the local sheriff identified area 'stills' they had raided and busted up the previous week and named the Moonshiners they arrested.

At the end of the show...... they ANNOUNCED what stills they were going to raid the following week!

I could never figure out how anyone got arrested!

[REGULATOR]

Hey I know this is an older post, but is this event going on this year in September as well?

  Id love to go..  especially if they have samples.....

  Plus I want to ride to Tiger GA...

[Stretch]

No, afraid not.  I called the park and the ranger told me that a Moonshine Jamboree was not scheduled for this year.