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Fla. - Ala. - Miss. - Mo. - Ark. |
Dates Climbed
Distance
Conditions
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I figured winter would be nice down south, so I bought a plane ticket and flew into New Orleans the afternoon of January 6th. Once landed I picked up my rental car and zoomed east along Interstate-10 through lower Mississippi and Alabama into Florida, mostly after dark, staying the night in Crestview. It was rainy most of the way, but not too bad. In this 3-hour period I had now entered into four states I had never been in before. The highpoints would start tomorrow, after a good night's sleep.
I awoke early on the 7th to a steady rain, and still in the dark, I set up north toward Britton Hill at Lakewood Park, the Florida state highpoint at all of 345 feet above sea level. I timed my arrival for sun-up, and after some wrong turns I found the parking area, where I was the only one there. It was maybe 6:30 a.m., and the rain was still drizzling. Finding the polished stone monument was easy enough, but to my eyes this didn't look like a highpoint, so I paced the immediate area for about 5 minues, including some of the road. In any case, after a short time I was happy enough to get moving, now heading north into Alabama.
Coming up from Florida, the rains picked up and poured on me as I drove up to Montgomery. The scenery from the Florida line to Montgomery was pretty much a steady diet of trees, trees and trees. That, and the rain, made for some unexciting driving. My route took me into Montgomery, then across toward Opelika and up some minor highways toward the Cheaha Mountain area. The weather cleared up a bit here, which was nice.
I thought I'd be clever and access the route to Cheaha via some local county road marked on my map. However, I missed the turnoff (I don't remember ever seeing it), and ended up on Interstate-20, obviously not near my destination. After some backtracking and (with much shame) asking for directions at a gas station, I found the right road and Cheaha Mountain and the hotel complex that sits right beside it. A road led all the way to the top, and a large stone tower sits just beside the summit. I climbed the tower, went around the building's back and stood on the actual summit boulder. After a few minutes, I got back into my car and headed west toward Birmingham. It was only 1 p.m., so I still had about 5 hours of sunlight left to get to the Mississippi highpoint, Woodall Mountain. Although I didn't realize it at the time, the Talladega Raceway is nearby, and as I understand it, a museum devoted to auto-racing as well. Might be worth a peek.
From the Cheaha Peak area in Eastern Alabama, I drove west through Birmingham in cool, gray weather. A gigantic pile-up of trucks east of Birmingham on the Interstate had caused traffic to come to a crawl, which I was able to get through, which was lucky since they closed the highway soon thereafter to right the rigs. This put me slightly behind schedule.
After passing through Birmingham and the western parts of Alabama in very pleasant weather, I arrived at the general area of Woodall Mountain in the late afternoon, and proceeded to get mildly lost: I could not find the "right" dirt road to the summit. After some random tries, I finally found the right one and drove to the top with barely any daylight left over. In retrospect, that was not too bad. Woodall's summit area is quite ugly. Weeds, trash, chain-link fencing and radio towers surround the site. I had put on 650 miles on this long day, with three new state highpoints in the books. I drove into Corinth and stayed at a hotel in town. I was surprisingly beat afterwards!
The second day of my Deep South highpoints tour began in the town of Corinth, Mississippi, where I spent the night after visiting Woodall Mountain, the Mississippi state highpoint, late the day before. A storm was moving in; the weather was bitterly cold and sleet and snow was forecasted. I left Corinth early in the morning and headed west toward Memphis, driving through sleet most of the way. While in Memphis I visited Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion. I'm not much of an Elvis fan, but I was in the area and I figured it might be interesting. It just so happened to be his birthday today, although I had no idea of that when I showed up. The sleety weather kept tourists to a minimum. Rather than spend 3 hours and pay a ransom touring the mansion, I paid $5 and toured his automobile and motorcycle collection instead. That was definitely worth it.
With Elvis out of my system, I proceeded again on my drive. I passed into Arkansas over the Mississippi River and headed north toward the Missouri bootheel. The weather was deteriorating and I encountered quite a bit of sleet, rain and snow on the way, but once in Missouri, the weather gave me a break for a short while. I exited the interstate near Cape Girardeau and headed west into the Missouri Ozarks toward Mt. Taum Sauk. The weather held, but I was aware from weather reports that a major winter storm was bearing down from the North.
I found Taum Sauk State Park with minimal trouble, parked, and hiked the easy few hundred feet along a concrete path to the highpoint marker, a large boulder with a polished stone marker. I didn't stay long, though. The temperature was right at freezing, and I had about 40 miles of backroads to negotiate before getting to Interstate-44. I arrived at the interstate just as the snow started to fall and stick. I gassed up and proceeded west a few miles on icy I-44. In about 20 minutes I saw a number of minor fender-benders and some rather grisly wrecks due to the conditions; I decided to take the first exit I could find that had a hotel near it. I found a Motel-8 in Waynesboro around 4 in the afternoon. The Motel-8 was fine, but the little restaurant up the road served the worst food I have ever eaten, and I'm normally not too picky when dining on the highways. It snowed a ton that night.
Yesterday I visited one highpoint, Missouri's Mt. Taum Sauk, before finding refuge in Waynesboro in the face of an oncoming storm. Nine inches of snow had fallen during the night. I drove carefully onto the Interstate, which had been plowed but only for one lane each way. It took me about two and a half hours to drive 80 miles toward Springfield, fishtailing more than once, and hoping the truckers travelling at 50-60 mph in the slush would not careen out of control and snuff me out. From Springfield I went south through Branson via US-65 and on toward the Arkansas line toward the city of Harrison.
The snow and ice let up as I headed into Arkansas, albeit slowly, but enough so I didn't feel so terrified all the time about my little car skidding on the highways. The first mile of the highway inside Arkansas was adopted by the Ku Klux Klan. Now that would have been something to see. But I didn't, and in a few moments I was in Harrison, got some gas and eats, then continued on toward Little Rock, and from there, west and south via a myriad of highways toward the Magazine Mountain area around 2 p.m. The weather was actually quite nice - with the first blue skies I had seen on the whole trip. The road up Magazine Mountain was easy enough to find and follow, but when I got to the top, I had some more trouble finding the right place to park for the 'right' trailhead. I was high enough also to be up back in the snow, although just a bit and not on the roads themselves. Very pretty. In time I found the right place to start, and in I went.
The hike to the top covered just a half-mile one way, on snowy ground, with about 300 feet of gain. I was joined by two local guys out for a hike, and one was nice enough to shoot my photo at the summit sign. The snow, trees and lingering ice made for a very pretty scene. I enjoyed this highpoint very much! Back down to my car, I proceeded south through the Ozarks for some beautiful scenic driving, and stayed the night in Arkadelphia, not too far north of the Louisiana line. My intent, of course, was a hike up Driskill Mountain, Louisiana's highpoint, the next morning, then on down to Baton Rouge where I stayed with some old college pals for a night. However, I botched my hike on Driskill, going up the wrong hill but not realizing it until much later. Bummer, but I have gone back twice now properly. The beer in Baton Rouge was good, though. Here is the link for my Louisiana highpoint trips.
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(c) 2000, 2001 Scott Surgent. For entertainment purposes only. This report is not meant to replace maps, compass, gps and other common sense hiking/navigation items. Neither I nor the webhost can be held responsible for unfortunate situations that may arise based on these trip reports. Conditions (physical and legal) change over time! Some of these hikes are major mountaineering or backpacking endeavors that require skill, proper gear, proper fitness and general experience. |