The Georgia Traverse Part 2. North Georgia Jeep Overland Adventure - Presented by Novsight

The Georgia Traverse series is brought to you by NovSight. NovSight. Adventure is calling. Our first day on the Traverse had us getting started late, but taking in an epic sunset, spending time around the campfire, and waking up to some interesting weather. Join us as we continue our journey on part two of the Georgia Traverse. It's a little bit later start than any of us were planning on. It's about 11 30 in the morning, but we are finally going wheels up. So it is back on the Traverse. Day two started out with us holed up in camp due to the weather. As soon as it broke, we were back on the trail. With Matt settled into his role as team leader, we filed out of camp and made our way back to the Traverse. As we made our way down the Traverse, the weather began to break, revealing the spectacular scenery that the North Georgia Wilderness is known for. One thing that I don't like doing is holding people up so that I can make a YouTube video. And even though everybody in the group has been super cool about me filming, and Matt's filming also, I made the decision to break off from the group for a little while to get some of the footage that I need to get and then meet up with them in a little while. So I am going to concentrate on getting what turns out to hopefully be some really good aerial footage and external shots of the group. If you've watched my other videos, you know how I tend to describe things. I don't use words like breathtaking very often, but look at this. Wow. Oh yeah, we're putting the drone up. We're gonna have a pro tip moment. When you're landing your drone and you're landing it pulling it out of the air because you don't have a suitable flat landing zone and you're running master air screw propeller blades, which are harder than normal, keep your fingers clear of the propeller blades when it's coming down. Pro tip. I stumbled along what is a great campsite just past that overlook where I just shot that drone footage. I'm going to waypoint it and I'll post the waypoints, the coordinates up on my Patreon. So head over to patreon.com slash DefiantOffroad. Having seen some amazing views of the passing storm and having patched myself up from my drone mishap, the weather was now clear and I made my way down the traverse at my own pace. Everything was going good, or so I thought. I seem to have developed a loud rattling sound coming from the front suspension that we're gonna have to stop and investigate at some point. I hate getting under a vehicle when the ground's wet. It's not gonna heal itself. I'm gonna have to investigate that in a little while. Well, we've identified that clanking sound that I mentioned earlier, I've lost a bolt from my AEV control arm geometry correction bracket. Now comes the fun part where we try to figure out what sort of field expedient we can come up with to effect a temporary repair. There is definitely jerry-rigging going on right now, but if it works, it works. So like I was saying, the problem ended up being one of the bolts in my AEV geometry correction bracket. It came out nothing against AEV, it's just a hundred-something thousand miles of me going on the trail and negligently not checking the tightness is probably what did it. But it took some engineering. This fine gentleman right here. No, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. Came up with a solution. Yep, found a bolt that's the approximate size and got it in there and it'll hold till I'm able to get to town to get a permanent solution for that. So we're back up and running. Defiance back up and running. So we're going to go wheels up and continue along on the trail. That bolt appears to be a viable solution, so it'll stay in place. We'll check it every time we stop. We'll make sure it's not coming loose and then make my way into probably Helen and see if I can get a right and proper permanent replacement. But for now, I think we're good. So we're rolling out. With the group reunited and the Defiance's suspension issue repaired, we were back underway. It's great to be traveling with a group that without even being asked, go to work on your vehicle like a pit crew. Overland Dads, you guys rock. We followed the blacktop into the nearest town to attempt a more permanent fix for the Defiant. While not as scenic as the forest, these back roads show the country charm of rural Georgia. Made our way to Home Depot. Got a bolt that will be a hopefully at least semi-permanent solution to my little control arm geometry correction bracket issue. And now we're going to gas up, grab some provisions, and get back on the trail. This kind of put us behind, but I don't think it's going to be too bad. We arrived at the Toccoa River crossing, a rickety temporary bridge that groans under the weight of our jeeps. And the sign ominously warns you, one vehicle at a time. Okay, we're ready to roll. Roll out. With the river crossing behind us, we were back off road. The trail became narrower and a bit more rough. This was the kind of trail that I enjoyed. Between having to do repairs on the Defiant and then the parts of the Traverse that are on pavement, we've been on pavement for quite a while today, but we're finally back off road. And this is the kind of trail that I like. It's narrow, it's winding, it's a lot of fun, so I'm having a pretty good time right now. As the day wore on, our focus shifted to finding a suitable place to camp. We were learning that having trouble finding a campsite was becoming the theme for this trip. I'm scouting a side trail out for a campsite. Not looking promising. Being a holiday weekend, campsites are, well, they're at a premium out here. The trail that I scouted out was a bust. The group split up into two other teams to go scout in different directions. Apparently, one of the teams might have found something, so we are now making our way down the trail to the other scout team to see what they found. Hopefully, it'll be a campsite that fits seven rigs. We're almost to the coordinates that the other scout team sent us. It is a possible campsite, so I'm curious to see what this is going to look like because it's way off the route for the Traverse. It's way off on a side trail, so I'm curious to see what this is going to look like. Oh, there they are up there. Well, we made it to the campsite. It's not terrible, but it's a little cozy, a little crowded, but it's what we could find. It's a holiday weekend and there are not many campsites available, but we're here. This is where we're going to stay for the night. Let's take a look at it real quick. There's Chef Matt over there cooking. There's a lot going on for one campsite, but it's the best we can find. It is crowded out here on the Georgia Traverse this weekend. I'm about to crawl in the tent and go to bed. If I'm talking quietly, forgive me. We're in a crowded campsite and most people are in bed now, so I'm trying not to keep people up. I just want to give a quick blurb about this NovSight camp light. I've been using it for two days now and it wasn't fully charged when I turned it on and it still hasn't charged because I keep forgetting to do it. It is just now down to its last bar of power, so I've been running it last two nights and again I haven't charged it and it wasn't fully charged to begin with and it's still putting up. Let me turn it up. I actually turned it down, so yeah. This thing is pretty cool. I imagine you probably know by now it has two settings. It has the off white and the bright white, but I really like that thing. Anyway, I'm about to do what everybody else is doing. I'm going to crawl to my tent and go to bed. Good night. As we settle into our tents, we reflect on a long day spent on the trail. Looking forward to tomorrow and whatever it brings, we know we will be ready. So join us for part three of the Georgia Traverse.