Us Mountaineers Scavengers

 

About ten miles north of Dahlonega on Hwy 19 is a fork in the road. With a big pile of rocks or stones. The body of Indian Princess Trahyla is under those rocks. She lived nearby. She heard if she drunk a certain potion it was give her eternal life. Well, the proof is in the pudding. She is dead under a pile of rocks.

Also, Princess Trahyla started a fad. A new superstition that travelers traveling by, if they would throw a stone or pebble on the Princess’s grave they will eternal youth. Again?

If you stayed on Hwy 19 you would enter Union County and go over blood Mountain. On the way down you would cross over The Appalachian Trail, see Volge State Park, and finally reach Blairsville,.

If you took the left Fork you would be on Hwy 60. There you would so through the little town Suches, and next a bigger town, Morganton.

In 1960 I got drunk, or tipsy, with Billy and Buddy. And ended up spending the night at Buddy’s house, who lived on Page Street. I suppose I made arrangements with Larry to pick me up at their house. Larry and friends came and picked me up before midnight.

We had a plan.

Larry drove us through Dahlonega and turned left at Princess Trahlyla’s stone grave, went a couple more miles and pulled over.

On one side of us was a mountain and the other side was a cliff.

The bottom of the cliff was the root of our plan. Larry heard that at the bottom of that cliff were many smashed cars. He heard the locals would push their cars off the cliff at that point and then collect from their insurance policy. Larry figured there were probably some good auto parts we could salvage.

However, at that moment it was pitched black over the cliff. We would have to wait for daylight to come.

Anytime we had idle time Larry would build a fire. We looked around the edge of the woods and found kindling wood, logs, and all we needed. We built a big fire in the middle or the road. We figured no fool would be driving on it in he middle of the night.

We were sitting around the roaring fire talking and laughing when I thought I heard the distant noise of a truck engine. I called my friends attention to the noise. It was getting louder. Then we cold see two headlights going around curves not far away.

We decided the only thing we could do is run!

A big truck was upon us as we scattered. The driver did not even apply his brakes, he might have even stepped on the gas and plowed right through it. With burning logs rolling and red sparks flying up in the black air.

I don’t know why we didn’t get the heck out of there. But we didn’t.

When daylight came Larry pulled out long ropes and cables out of his trunk and we began to lower ourselves down on the ropes.

As I said, only a few hours before I was drunk. Now, I was dangling on a waving rope in midair. I got sick, my head started spinning and all I could do was hold on for dear life. I vomited.

Jenky was below me hanging on the same rope. My puke splattered on him. He hollered, but hung on. He did not see the humor in at that moment but later he did.

At the bottom of the cliff there were a few cars turned all which ways. But all he parts have been stripped. A bunch of crooks beat us to our plan.

Jenky died in a drag race a couple months later.

It also reminded me of an Atlanta Postal Maintenance guy named Mr. Wellborn. Mr. Wellborn worked at the Federal Annex in Atlanta. He was an air conditioner specialist. I was a clerk in the maintenance department for a few months. I was a clerk there when astronauts first made “One Step for Mankind” because we were all kidding saying such an elaborate present for my birthday.

Anyway, back to Mr. Welborn. He was from Blairsville and went there often to see his property. He also worked on my home air conditioner for several years I remember he was easy going and deeply religious.

One time on the way to see his property he pulled ovrer to admire the valley. He stood on the edge of a cliff admiring the view, God’s gift, when a car sped around the corner and couldn’t make the curve and hit Mr. Wellborn’s car, which hit Mr. Wellborn and off he cliff he fell. He lived, but narrowly. He retired after that.