This past Friday I set my alarm for 04:30 and was out of the house around 05:30. My destination: Camp Taccoa at Currahee Mountain in northeastern Georgia.

As the sun was beginning to creep over the horizon, I exited I-75 South at the Sweetwater, Tennessee exit. From there I drove on two lane roads and divided highways for another two-and-a-half hours. I had a brief stretch in North Carolina followed by Blairsville, Georgia with its courthouse situated inside a large round-about and Helen, Georgia with its German-themed downtown. I arrived at the trailhead for Currahee around 09:20. My brother, driving from northwestern Georgia, got there soon after.

If you’ve ever watched the HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers or read Stephen Ambrose’s account by the same name, you already know Currahee Mountain as the place where that glorious SOB Lieutenant Sobel ran Easy Company “3 miles up and 3 miles down” in pursuit of the best trained group of Airborne troops in the entire US Army. The series holds a special place in my heart and mind as I consider the great debt of gratitude we owe to all the men and women who served and continue to serve in our armed forces.

It wasn’t until recently that I’d ever considered visiting Currahee Mountain. It seemed more like a mythical place until one day I googled to see if you could hike it. Sure enough I found that hiking Currahee Mountain is a “thing”. Given that Taccoa, GA is a bit “out of the way”, it requires a conscious effort to get there, but once on the scene, the three miles of gravel road leading up the mountain afford you the same opportunity as they afforded the 17,000 or so soldiers who trained at Camp Taccoa.

My brother and I took our time on the ascent. Along the way he introduced me to the Merlin Bird ID app, showing me how it identifies birds by their songs. Once we were passed by someone running the trail. We later learned the runner and his wife were in town from Calgary. We got to the top around 11:30. From there we were treated to views of western South Carolina, Georgia, and parts of North Carolina. After we lunched, we met a gentleman working on an article about Camp Taccoa for RECOIL magazine. Then we continued to the peak of the mountain where there’s an antenna station.

Afterwards we hiked down and visited Camp Taccoa. There we got to walk through a couple of the original barracks reconstructed for guests and the gift shop which is inside the sole remaining original building. We also spoke with a young veteran of the 82nd Airborne who shared details with us about an upcoming documentary on Camp Taccoa which will be on HBO this fall. All-in-all, it was a day steeped in history walking along hallowed ground.