Some incorrect information here.

30 degrees is 58% grade. The steepest road in the world is in New Zealand at 39%. The silver comet is nowhere near any of this.

Max grade westbound on the trail west of Rockmart is 8.3%. That is at the bottom of the hill at the Grady Road Landfill.

Total climbing from Rockmart to the Alabama border is 780 ft.
-Tim-

I agree with Tim on this. Other than trash mountain which is a good bit of climbing, past rockmart to the Alabama line is one of the flatter sections of the silver comet trail and I have ridden it from start to finish.

OK. Maybe not 30 degrees on the hills but they felt like 30 to 50 degrees to me:) They are definitely too steep for a railroad track!

Lets all post photos of the trail.

I hear that it is clear of debris in Cobb but that Paulding has it blocked at mile 26. To the west it is impassible I am told. I hope to ride some gravel this weekend and will enter the trail on the east side of the Brushy Mountain tunnel and take some photos.

Last Thursday heading north I barely got through right south of McPherson church, maybe 50-100 yards of very dense treefall. Completely blocked the trail and hard to climb through with a bike. Should have turned around but I'm stubborn I guess.

There was also a trail closed sign north of McPherson church but I did not investigate, might be just as impassible as the southern area. On the plus side, Johnny Monk is in great shape, packed in and very smooth.

On Saturday 12/16 I rode from Hiram at the caboose to the end in Smyrna. It was ok but some ice was still present and some debris. The ice was on a bridge towards the Smyrna end and the worst debris was towards Hiram. Most of it was fine or completely clear. I would imagine the ice is gone or at least better by now.

I rode parts of the trail today (Thursday 12/21) from Hiram to Coots and back.

From Hiram to Dallas the trail has lots of debris such as pine needles, cones and sticks less than 1" diameter. Crews had definitely been out as there were many cut trees on the side and piles of wood chips. It can be ridden and several cyclists were out but I would not do it on a bike with delicate racing tires. The photo below is typical.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l8e1x0803m...02.sm.jpg?dl=1


I left the trail at Dallas and took local roads, rejoining the trail at the Mt. Olivette tunnel. As reported, there was a "Trail Closed" sign at the Willow Springs Bridge.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uvndgodcn7...03.sm.jpg?dl=1


The sign was there for good reason. A section of trail is completely blocked just east of McPherson Church Rd as reported by @Spoonrobot. The section is only about 100 ft long but most will not want to take the trouble to pass. I had to drag the bike over, under and through. The first photo shows that a crew had already started cutting.

Looking west
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qpxgitkl4a...04.sm.jpg?dl=1

Part way through
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sj239ghpb3...05.sm.jpg?dl=1

Almost through
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rq3jch7p1h...06.sm.jpg?dl=1

Looking back toward the east
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rgkqhthr9x...07.sm.jpg?dl=1


There was another sign at McPherson Church Rd but much of the trail from there to Coots Lake was pristine, as if nothing had happened. The crew from Fletcher Tree Service was doing an amazing job.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hbru5axe3e...08.sm.jpg?dl=1


The photo below is of a small slide on the east side of Brushy Mountain Tunnel which had been cleaned up. The trail pictured in the background is typical of the condition from McPherson Church Rd to Coots Lake. Much of it is immaculate.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ql7hqr8z74...09.sm.jpg?dl=1


This is the Fletcher Tree Service crew, contracted by Paulding Parks & Rec. I stopped and chatted with them and thanked them on behalf of the cycling community. Ray Fletcher said that he hoped to have everything clear by Friday evening, in time for everyone to ride on Saturday. He could not promise but that was his plan.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q1y8mq8hgq...11.sm.jpg?dl=1

Fletcher Tree Service is at 404.456.3874. Everyone near Paulding County, GA should let them quote their next tree job.


-Tim-

Thanks for sharing your reconnaissance Tim.

..and bring them some doughnuts!

Dave

nice shot!

I see you found me on strava

Ellie?

yup!

How is cell service? I would think pretty tough on the Alabama side?

More pumpkinvine Trestle

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...203d5d734e.jpg

GLCP = Georgia Land Conservation Program. Look for this sign 2.5 miles east of the Brush Mountain Tunnel.

There is a nice gravel road about 50 yards down the foot path. If you turn left on the gravel road it climbs to the top of Brush Mountain right above the tunnel. If you turn right it dead ends at the Pumpkinvine Creek after only a short distance. Due to tree cover the creek is not visible from the trail, even in winter and 99.9% of people who ride the trail don't know it is there. It is worth the walk down to see, even in cleats.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...882642c2d3.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a835842ba7.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d0dffd8e4c.jpg

-Tim-

Looking west from the new Willow Springs bridge with the trail below.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2ef7f301a7.jpg

Check out the bike totally cross chained LoL.

-Tim-

Bridge over the Euharlee Creek, Rockmart.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1e6212bb08.jpg


-Tim-

Brushy Mountain Tunnel at Sunset - looking west from the Paulding County side.

July 5, 2018 at about 7:40 PM

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d608a16d0c.jpg


-Tim-

Very nice with the sun lighting up the tunnel. :thumb:

7:00 PM Sept 4, 2018

Near McPherson Church Rd looking west.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a6670dcdda.jpg

Two miles east of Brushy Mountain Tunnel

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8f89086fba.jpg

Southeast Llama Rescue: Southeast Llama Rescue (SELR)

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ac1983404b.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7c4edcdd44.jpg