Sometimes it takes a visitor to force me to explore the natural wonders of the Southeast. When I’m in Georgia, I tend to stay within a two-hour drive of home. The mountains in the northern part of the state are great places to explore, but getting there can be an ordeal, as many of the routes require me to navigate the entire Atlanta metro area from south to north. Within the mountains, highways twist through built-up valleys, and have their own traffic problems.
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Earlier this month, my sister and her husband visited from Nevada. They teamed up with my brother’s family from the Atlanta area, and spent a week exploring Georgia and the Carolinas. My sister has a passion for climbing peaks (the non-technical ones) and has recently become interested in the Highpointers Club whose members strive to reach the summits of the highest point in each state, whether it be Florida’s Britton Hill at 345 feet, or Alaska’s Denali at 20,320 feet.
It was only natural that we’d end up atop Sassafras Mountain in South Carolina (3,553 feet), and Brasstown Bald in Georgia (4,784 feet). Summiting Sassafras required driving skills rather than hiking endurance, as there is a public road leading nearly to the top. Brasstown Bald also has a road leading to the top, but it had been closed due to snow. Even though all of the snow had melted from the pavement, the authorities had not gotten around to unlocking the gate on the day we arrived (March 17). We had to earn our keep by hiking three miles on the access road and the summit trail.
Am I really going to end this Bucket without any pictures from the summit? Yes, I am. There were some incredible cloud formations that day, worthy of their own separate diary. Stay tuned.
Resource links:
Wikipedia entry for Brasstown Bald
US Forest Service information for Brasstown Bald
Webcam links. I couldn’t get the images to load. The site uses Adobe Flash which can be balky. You might have better luck.
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