Freshly cleared large patch about 3 miles north of Three Forks, Georgia?

[libove]

Hi -
My wife and I camped about 1 mile north of Three Forks on the AT (at the Benton Mackaye Trail turnoff) last night. We took a walk about two miles north of that junction on the BMT and stopped in awe at the large (three or four acres) freshly cleared (I mean dug down to the ground with a large tracked machine) patch at that point.
Anyone know what this huge empty spot bisecting the BMT about 3 miles north of Three Forks is about?
Thanks
-Jay & Yoshiko
Atlanta, GA

[saimyoji]

Mountaintop removal?

[Skidsteer]

The military plays up there.

[libove]

>The military plays up there.

Sheesh, couldn't the military "play" somewhere other than smack in the middle of a recognized long distance hiking trail?

What happens to hikers / backpackers who want to cross through there while the military is "playing"? Do the "games" stop while the hikers cross the "field", or, as I suspect, do we get S.O.L. at the point of a gun while they finish their (well supplied) games and we (with whatever we happened to have when we walked up) wait it out?

Sigh. I bet it was pretty up there before whatever monster machinery they used turned it to acres of fresh tilled dirt.

-Jay

p.s. YES I know our military has and ably serves an important purpose, and I deeply respect and honor those who serve, and, yes, I know that sometimes has environmental consequences.

[Dances with Mice]

Relax. I know exactly what you saw.

3 miles north of 3 Forks the BMT crosses a mountaintop wildlife clearing maintained as a food source for turkeys and deer. It gets plowed and replanted every so often. The plowing mimicks the effects of natural fires that would create meadows.

On the AT you'd cross a gravel road about 1.5 miles north of Long Creek Falls beside the Hickory Flats cemetery. That gravel road deadends at the back of that wildlife clearing. It's how the Forest Service gets their tractor to the site. The AT passes beside several other wildlife clearings in that area but the BMT passes right through the center of the clearing.

The Army Rangers occasionally use the field as a drop zone, but they didn't do the plowing.

[Skidsteer]

Relax. I know exactly what you saw.

3 miles north of 3 Forks the BMT crosses a mountaintop wildlife clearing maintained as a food source for turkeys and deer. It gets plowed and replanted every so often. The plowing mimicks the effects of natural fires that would create meadows.

On the AT you'd cross a gravel road about 1.5 miles north of Long Creek Falls beside the Hickory Flats cemetery. That gravel road deadends at the back of that wildlife clearing. It's how the Forest Service gets their tractor to the site. The AT passes beside several other wildlife clearings in that area but the BMT passes right through the center of the clearing.

The Army Rangers occasionally use the field as a drop zone, but they didn't do the plowing.

Spoilsport.

[libove]

Actually, we saw quite a few wild turkeys as we drove out from the very cemetery you mention (at the intersection of FS 251 and the AT, where we parked Sunday afternoon) down to FS 58 then east to the intersection of 58/77/42 then west out 42 back to Doublehead Gap and Roy roads, Hwy 52 and back home to Atlanta. Got a good look at one of them in flight.

We wondered if the clearing might be a wildlife clearing; it just seemed so much larger than most. And then there was the ~50 calibre shell I found lying in the freshly turned dirt...

I'd prefer to believe that it's a wildlife clearing than a military playground!

Still, I wonder, no matter who cleared it... what happens when an irresistable force (the military) meets an immovable object (a backpacker) at that clearing? :-)

-Jay

[Skidsteer]

Still, I wonder, no matter who cleared it... what happens when an irresistable force (the military) meets an immovable object (a backpacker) at that clearing? :-)

-Jay

From what I hear, Helicopter landings in the middle of the night are an excellent way to test your shelter's stability in high wind...as well as the DWR finish on your sleeping bag.

[libove]

See, I *told* my wife, when we saw that clearing, that it was aliens! Bright lights and loud noises in the middle of the night! Inexplicable liquid residues in sleeping bags... :-}
-Jay

[Chef2000]

In 2000 at the springer shelter late at night two Jets, probably A10s buzzed the shelter, my entire tent lit up like it was daylight from the lights. some folks in top of shelter thought they were gonna fly into the shelter

[Wander]

That explains it...
My son and I were camping at the Toccoa suspension bridge and kept hearing helo's.
A little OT I know, but that campsite on the North end of the bridge IS-A-DUMP.

[Wander]

That explains it...
My son and I were camping at the Toccoa suspension bridge and kept hearing helo's.
A little OT I know, but that campsite on the North end of the bridge IS-A-DUMP.

I mean-is treated like a dump- a shame its a great place.

[take-a-knee]

From what I hear, Helicopter landings in the middle of the night are an excellent way to test your shelter's stability in high wind...as well as the DWR finish on your sleeping bag.

God I love this country!

[take-a-knee]

Relax. I know exactly what you saw.

3 miles north of 3 Forks the BMT crosses a mountaintop wildlife clearing maintained as a food source for turkeys and deer. It gets plowed and replanted every so often. The plowing mimicks the effects of natural fires that would create meadows.

On the AT you'd cross a gravel road about 1.5 miles north of Long Creek Falls beside the Hickory Flats cemetery. That gravel road deadends at the back of that wildlife clearing. It's how the Forest Service gets their tractor to the site. The AT passes beside several other wildlife clearings in that area but the BMT passes right through the center of the clearing.

The Army Rangers occasionally use the field as a drop zone, but they didn't do the plowing.

Given the budget cuts to GA DNR, that may be the last time it gets plowed and planted for a LOOONG time.

If you are hiking on a WMA (Wildlife Management Area) then, DNR officials will "manage", IE food plots for wildlife. This obviously cannot and does not occur inside designated wilderness areas.

And I doubt the Army uses it for a drop zone (parachute ops) if it is only 3-4 acres, more likely a helicopter LZ ( or fastrope LZ).

[Dances with Mice]

And I doubt the Army uses it for a drop zone (parachute ops) if it is only 3-4 acres, more likely a helicopter LZ ( or fastrope LZ).

Oops, wrong word. Exactly right.

There's also a well-used ambush site that I'll bet the trainers set up in the gap immediately north of that clearing. Lots of brass on the ground around a tree just a few yards off the trail.

[John Klein]

I camped twice on the BMT around there. First was between FS42 and Stover Creek. The second time was just past that clearing you describe. At the first spot about 50 soldiers hiked right past my tent at desk, carrying what must have been 80 pound packs. At the second spot there were helicopters in the vicinity all day.