If you’ve seen Band of Brothers then the name “Currahee” will be familiar. Easy Company was forced to run up and down the mountain (“3 miles up! 3 miles down!”) by Lt. Sobel, annoyingly played by a David Schwimmer in the series.

I’ve literally spent years of my life in Toccoa with family but never once ventured up the mountain, the only large peak visible for miles. While we were in Toccoa this year I was determined to tackle Currahee Mountain myself.

Dad and I drove out to the mountain and up the trail to the peak, just to see what I was in for. After spending a few minutes soaking in the view from 1700 feet we went back down the hill so I could start my run.

The first few miles were actually pretty easy. The trail rises and falls while steadily gaining ground. There’s a little house at about 2.5 miles where the mountain decides to be mean. From there on out it’s up, up and more up with only a few spots where the grade eases to “only” 5 – 8%. Quite a few cars passed me on my trek up, always offering encouragement.

After relaxing for a minute on top of the mountain I turned around and headed back down. I was pleasantly surprised at my time. The ~ 6.5 miles took me only ~ 70 minutes, not much worse than my best 10K time.

There is, apparently, a 10K race held each year at the mountain. Check out a few pictures here from the race in 2005. I’ll have to remember to bring my camera next time I tackle the mountain!