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Florida • Alabama • Mississippi • Missouri • Arkansas |
Dates Climbed
Distance
Conditions
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I planned a few days in early January 1997 to hit as many southern state highpoints as possible, plus visit some old college friends living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I knew it would be a slight gamble to go down there this time of year, but I was hoping it would be generally "nice". Going there in summer was out of the question. So I flew from Ontario (CA) to New Orleans, where it was raining pretty heavily. Picking up my rental car, I drove east along Interstate-10 through Mississippi, Alabama and into Florida, where I found a hotel for the night in Crestview. Of course, Florida's measly highpoint would be first on the list, starting early tomorrow.
When I awoke it was still raining and very gray, but nothing horrible. Figuring the highpoints I had planned for the day weren't big hikes, the rain would be nothing more than an inconvenience. From Crestview I drive north toward the Alabama state line to the little town of Florala, timing my arrival for sun-up. I had a little trouble finding the right roads to Lakewood Park but I found it soon enough. I was the only one there.
There's a stone marker noting that Britton Hill is the state highpoint, and I found it immediately. But it didn't seem like the actual highpoint, so in the rainy gloom I wandered the area a little bit and checked out a few rises. After a few minutes I called it good. Did I get *the* highpoint? I can't be certain, but I left feeling pretty good about my odds. I was done with Florida by 7 a.m., now entering Alabama proper and up towards its highpoint at Cheaha Mountain.
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. Alabama's highpointwas now in the books.
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 entered into Mississippi and 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 tired afterwards!
My first day of state highpoints had gone pretty well, and the weather had been rainy and gray, but not really too bad. All that changed pretty quickly starting today. When I awoke, the skies were dark gray, it was very cold, and overall very ominous. Weather reports showed a system moving in from the west. Things could get interesting today (and they would...).
I headed west across the northern top of Mississippi toward Memphis, Tennessee. The scenery was gentle hills and lots of forest, while the weather had degenerated a little, so that I had some sleet as I rolled into Memphis. The plan for the moment wasn't a highpoint, but to go see Graceland, Elvis' old home. I'll admit, I'm not much into Elvis, but since I was in the area, I thought I'd at least drive by and check it out. It wasn't too far off the interstate, and within minutes I had found my way to Graceland, where I pulled into the parking lot. The sleety weather kept people away, and I caught a break as it was his birthday today (I had no idea), so they had some good pricing on the tours. The mansion tour would have taken a few hours and I wasn't terribly interested in that, but for $5 I could tour his automobile and motorcycle collection, and that was worth it. My Elvis pilgrimage now satisfied (forever), I resumed my journey.
From Memphis I entered into Arkansas, then north into the bootheel of Missouri toward Cape Girardeau. From there I veered west into the Ozarks, aiming for Mt. Taum Sauk, the Missouri state highpoint. Once off the interstate my travel slowed and I took it slowly and carefully to enjoy the scenery and stay safe given the deteriorating conditions. As usual, I got slightly lost, over-ran the turnoff, that sort of thing, for a few minutes until I found the parking area. The trail to the highpoint is a concrete sidewalk running maybe a quarter-mile into the dog-hair forest. The highpoint itself is marked by a polished stone marker and a good-sized rock. I stuck around long enough for photos and a look-around, but hustled back to my car pretty quickly.
By now it was about 3:30 p.m., but the storm was coming in and the sun was setting in about an hour. I wanted to be out of the Ozarks and back onto at least the interstate (44 in this case) by nightfall. The drive out of the mountains was quite lovely, and everyone there already had fires burning so the whole place smelt wonderful, but they were hunkered in while I was not, so I didn't waste time. I arrived onto the interstate just as it started to snow. My plan was to drive as much west as possible to set myself up for the Arkansas highpoint tomorrow, so I was looking to be somewhere well to the west, maybe even Branson, but after about 10 miles of skidding on the icy roads and witnessing a couple nasty wrecks and "slide-offs", I exited the first chance I got (in Waynesboro) and found a hotel to stay at for the night. The adjoining restaurant served some of the worst food I have ever eaten, but at least I was safe for the night. Today had gone well, all things considered.
When I awoke this morning, 9 inches of snow had fallen and the whole region was momentarily in stand-down mode until roads could be plowed. They plowed one lane each of Interstate-44, and I waited until late morning to get moving, heading west to Springfield, then from there to Branson and on into Arkansas.
From Waynsboro to Springfield was about 80 miles, but it took me over two hours to make the drive, often trying to avoid the big trucks who took the roads pretty quick. The further west I drove the (slightly) better conditions became, so that by the time I was in Branson there was snow on the ground but the roads were all cleared and in good shape. I didn't stop in Branson at all, and continued into Arkansas, where the first sign I saw was a "This Highway Adopted by the Ku Klux Klan". Lovely. Later I would discover the nearby town of Harrison was the world headquarters for the Klan, which meant the head guy lived there pretty much. I didn't see them out picking up trash, or maybe they just blended in with the snow.
I passed through Harrison and on toward Conway then west again toward Magazine Mountain, the state highpoint and the only 2,000-foot prominence peak in the deep south. Once again, I found myself following numerous roads all over the place until I could get my bearings and find the right place to park for a hike up to the summit. Two locals were there and they seemed pretty cool, so we hiked up as a group to the top, the one-way taking about 15 minutes. The snow was everywhere and very pretty: I never thought I'd be here on a winter-wonderland sort of day. The hike down went well, and I drove some more to explore some overlooks. This is a very pretty area and well worth further exploration.
From Magazine Mountain I drove south and stayed the night in Arkadelphia, then managed to botch the easy hike up Driskill Mountain in Louisiana the next morning. I went up the wrong hill! I drove on south to my pals in Baton Rouge where I stayed for a couple days. We ate shrimp, drank beer and checked out the Jean Lafitte Wildlife Refuge south of New Orleans before my flight out. In all, a very fun trip. The flight home was kind of scary as we were grounded in Salt Lake City while they de-iced the plane a few times. In 1999 and again in 2004, I revisited the Louisiana highpoint,
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(c) 2000, 2010 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. |