February 7, 2009; Dug Mountain, Whitfield County, GA
Today was the first near spring-like day we have had this year in the area. Highs were in the low 60's
and the sunshine was brilliant in a cloudless sky. Dug Mountain is the highest point in Whitfield County
Georgia. It lies in the Chattahoochee National Forest and can be reached via the Pinhoti Trail. The
closest access to the summit is located north of the summit where the Pinhoti crosses Dug Gap Mtn Road.
There is a pulloff there which will accommodate 3-4 cars and the hike is about a mile round trip from
parking to the summit. Parking is at 1,440 feet and the summit is at 1,814 feet for a gain of roughly
374 feet in elevation. My wife (&wife) made the walk to the top with me to enjoy her first summit
cheeseburger experience. We didn't know it until we were on the way up, but there was a mountain bike
race today along the Pinhoti Trail, so we had to be wary of the bikers as well as the other usual
hikers on the trail. This portion of the trail utilizes a National Forest gravel road which also
gives access to the myriad of communication towers at the summit, so there was plenty of room for
us all. At the top, I broke out two more Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers from Wendy's and again, they were
quite tasty. I can now rank the fast-food cheeseburgers based on my previous attempts.
Here goes:
#1 Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. Not only does it contain the requisite bun, meat patty of
mammalian origin, and a slice of cheese; it is loaded with onions, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and
bacon! It has a conservative dollop of mayo to hold it all together and a waxed paper wrap to keep it
intact inside the backpack. All of this for only 99 cents.
#2 McDonalds Regular Cheeseburger. This offering runs a close second. It also contains the requisite
bun, meat patty of mammalian origin, and a slice of cheese. It has only onions, pickles, and ketchup
added, and is also wrapped in waxed paper for ease of transport.
#3 Cheese Krystal. This one has the requisite bun, meat patty of mammalian origin, and a slice of
cheese. It has only onions, a pickle, and mustard added, but is in an open-end box. This requires
another method of containment. One advantage of the Krystal is its small size, but the lower bun half
always seems to get soggy. And let's face it, cold soggy bun goo isn't at all appetizing.
#4 Sonic Jr. Cheeseburger. This offering also contains the requisite bun and a slice of cheese, but
a meat patty of mammalian origin is questionable, at best. Honestly, I don't remember what it had on
it other than the requirements, as my focus was getting it down. It was wrapped in waxed paper, which
in hindsight, might have tasted better than the cheeseburger.
After we finished off our cheeseburgers and most of our water, we headed back down the slope, ever
wary of the mountain bikers. I dropped &wife off at the yarn store while I continued my tour of
Whitfield County.
Photos:
Dug Gap Access via Pinhoti Trail.
The view to the north from the Dug Mountain summit.
Lots of communication towers on top of the Dug Mountain summit.
A tasty cheeseburger on the Dug Mountain summit.
&wife's tasty cheeseburger on the Dug Mountain summit.
Benchmark:
