I came to the Kentucky Highpoint after having done Virginia's Mount Rogers earlier in the day. The weather was improving from morning storms and I had a few hours of sunlight left to pop into Kentucky and nab its highpoint, Black Mountain. This would be a drive-up with no lengthy hiking required. Black Mountain is just inside the Kentucky border from Virginia in Harlan County. This area was made famous (notorious?) in the early 1970s when a lengthy coal-miner's strike became violent. A documentary called "Harlan County, USA" was made, with most of the footage being the real thing- no actors, recreations or anything of the sort. It is a fascinating film.

Anyway, the highpoint. From the town of Appalachia in Virginia, a road snakes up the hills toward the border. It's very pretty, and coal can be seen in the rock bands from the road. Finally, the road tops at a pass at the state line... then it gets rather ugly. The Kentucky sign at the state line was blasted with shotgun pellets. The peak is accessed by a road that passes an FAA "golf-ball" site. The summit itself is gated closed, though easily transgressed by anyone and everyone. The locals apparently come here to drink beer, have sex, and discard garbage, judging by the stuff found on the ground. The summit is bland. I stuck around just long enough to count it off my list. Highpoint #30, done. Now back into Virginia then into Kingsport, Tennessee, just across the state line. I stayed at a hotel in town. The girl at the counter was about the prettiest human I'd seen during the whole trip, so that was a nice thing. She had a real deep, breathy southern accent. "Thank you" came out "Thaink yee-ou".