Signal Hill on Mount Magazine, the Arkansas highpoint (Mount Magazine Photo Album)
Over Thanksgiving, I made a bit of last minute decision to head over to Arkansas to go to Mount Magazine to hit the high point of the Natural State. Having driven through Arkansas a few times, I knew the state had many beautiful places, but I did not realize how beautiful the area around Mount Magazine would be.
Hanging out at the Cheaha Mountain High Point.
(Cheaha Mountain Photo Album)
I’ve been blessed enough to see some pretty interesting places in my life. I’ve been awed by the sight and the sound of Niagara Falls. I saw one of the most amazing sunrises of my life at Brasstown Bald, Georgia. I’d rank some of the views from Cheaha Mountain right up there with them.
The Creek Indians viewed it as a special place, and for thousands of years, many went to the mountain as a place to meditate and escape. I can totally understand why. The place as an amazing, and mostly untouched, natural beauty. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that it plays a bit of an optical illusion with you. When standing in places such as Bald Rock, one feels that they are at a high elevation. The fact is Cheaha Mountain only stands at 2407 feet, but the fact that the surrounding area is relatively low making it seem much higher. Continue reading
Benjamin and I standing at the top of Mississippi.
After Labor Day weekend, I had been wanting to get back on the highpointing trail, so I decided to mix in a trip to a few highpoints with Mississippi State football to have a good time in October.
The Mississippi State-Bowling Green game turned out to be quite interesting as the Bulldogs barely hung on for a win, but my son had a blast at his first game ever at Davis-Wade Stadium. After crashing with some friends near Starkville, Ben and I woke up and headed over to Northeast Mississippi and the City of Iuka.
This is just one of the unreal sunrise pictures I took at Brasstown Bald.
(Brasstown Bald Photo Gallery)
I’ve never been a big fan of waking up early, especially before the sunrise. Sure it is a fact of life that most of us will have to wake up that early once we reach adulthood, but we do not have to like it. However, as I started my way home from my Labor Day excursion, I decided to only grab a few hours of sleep in an attempt to get to the top of Brasstown Bald before sunrise. When I look at these pictures in my office, they remind me that doing so proved to be well worth it.
Standing at the monument on the top of Mount Mitchell. It was a good, damp, cloudy day.
(Mount Mitchell Photo Gallery)
One of the locations to which I most looked forward to visiting on my trips was Mount Mitchell. Being able to stand at the highest point east of the Mississippi River is just an awesome thought. Getting to the top was a great way to spend my 32nd birthday.
The drive to the park area of Mount Mitchell takes some time on a few windy roads, but it provides some amazing views of the Appalachians, Black Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains. Along the way, travelers pass by the Eastern Continental Divide.
Benjamin and I sitting next to the cairn that marks the summit of Driskill Mountain
(Going to Driskill Mountain Photo Album)
The first stop of what will hopefully be my journey of fifty stops turned out to be Driskill Mountain, which is located just outside of Arcadia, Louisiana, about 60 miles to the east of Texas.
Along with me on the trip was my three-year old son, Benjamin, who found the idea of climbing “highest mountain” (thanks Dora) to be beyond exciting.
I had some worries early when I woke up in Brandon, Mississippi, to the sound of rain, but we decided to head on over to Driskill Mountain and hope for the best. When we crossed the Mississippi River into Louisiana, it looked like it might not work out too well for us.
The skies did not look promising as we crossed the Mississippi River in Vicksburg.
It looks like my plans to make Britton Hill my first stop for highpointing will not happen. Instead, Driskill Mountian, the tallest point in Louisiana will be my first stop and Britton Hill will be stop number two.
While it is hardly a mountain at an elevation of 535 feet, I’ve read it is a nice enough hike (less than one mile), and has many neat signs and stories along the way. It is private property, but it is nice to know that the owners of the land recognize that people will be drawn to it, and because of that, they allow people to walk up the trails to the top of the hill.
While I’m over there, I hope I can swing by the spot where time ran out on Bonnie and Clyde, just a few miles north of Driskill Mountain.
As highpoints go, Britton Hill does not stand out as an amazing accomplishment. Rising to only 345 feet, the tallest (natural) point in Florida stands lower than the highpoints in any other state. Only five states have high points below 1000 feet: Florida, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Rhode Island.
Britton Hill stands just south of the Alabama border on the western part of the Florida Panhandle, which makes this a quick trip for someone living on the Gulf Coast. That fact makes it the first highpoint that I plan to cross off of my list on this journey. I will have my three-year old son in tow, and I do find it exciting that he and I will reach our first highpoint at the same time.
Until a few years ago, I had never gone hiking. In fact, I thought I would hate it. Why would I want to climb to the top of some mountain or hill? It just seemed foolish, or at least it did until I reached the top of a mountain in North Carolina.
Some friends and I (in the BPC shirt) on top of Black Balsam Knob in North Carolina
I do not remember the name of the mountain, but I remember the friends with whom I walked the trail. I do not remember the name of the mountain (ok…I do now because of Facebook), but I remember the feeling of being at the top of a mountain. I knew that I wanted to replicate that feeling again at some point.
With life as it is, one can easily get wrapped up in the mundane and forget those hopes and aspirations. I did.
Over the weekend, I started a conversation with a friend about hiking in Arkansas. While I am blessed for a lot of things in my life, it is far from perfect right now, and I thought a hiking trip over Labor Day would be a great rejuvenator. In looking for a place to hike, I stumbled across the idea of highpointing–climbing to all the highest elevations in a given area. I became fascinated with this idea.
I’ve always wanted to accomplish visiting all fifty states, and since I do enjoy hiking and have always found extremes in geography to be interesting, this seems like a cool adventure to begin.
What all will I put on this site? Who knows? How often will I update it? I’m not sure. Will I really ever reach all fifty states? That is a good question, but it does not hurt to have it as a goal. No matter how the script goes, I hope you will swing by and check out the adventure, and who knows, maybe even join in on one yourself.
If you are wondering, the first stop will be far from amazing, but it is a point that must be reached, Britton Hill in Florida. I’m hoping to tackle it over the weekend.
A Blind Shot at Reaching 50 State Highpoints 