Highpoint: Taum Sauk Mountain
State: Missouri
Height: 1772 ft.
Highpoint #: 10
Date: 7/1/2002
Trails: N/A
Distance: .5 miles roundtrip.
Vertical Gain: 30
Time Taken: 30 min
Weather: Really nice day, 80s.
Group: JO & BC
Comments: We left Arkansas and continued driving into Missouri. We got within striking distance of the highpoint and decided to call it a night. We treated ourselves to a motel room.  It was 12:30am Monday when we finally hit the hay. This was our first real sleep since we left. We were out the door early that morning, though, since we knew we had a long day ahead. We drove the short distance to the Missouri highpoint. The entire walkway from the parking lot to the top was paved. Wow. It was pretty strange seeing a paved walkway wind through the dense trees. The top was pretty nice too, although still no view from there. We were impressed with the upkeep of this highpoint.

Left: The way to the highpoint is paved.  I’m speechless.  Right: BC at the quite picturesque summit of Taum Sauk Mountain.

After leaving Taum Sauk, we began our third long day in a row of driving.  Luckily, this would be our last long day of driving until the trip back home.  We would be traveling all the way from Missouri to Georgia, bagging 3 highpoints and coming very near a fourth.  Our first stop after leaving Missouri was Woodall Mountain, in Iuka, MS.  From Iuka, we traveled across Alabama to Cheaha Mountion and then through Georgia to the area near Brasstown Bald.  We then crashed at a hotel in Blairsville, GA for the night.

 

Highpoint: Woodall Mt.
State: Mississippi
Height: 806 ft.
Highpoint #: 11
Date: 7/1/2002
Trails: N/A
Distance: About 10 feet roundtrip.
Vertical Gain: 0
Time Taken: 5 min.
Weather: Hot, low 90’s, a bit humid
Group: JO & BC
Comments: We continued on from Missouri to Woodall Mt. This highpoint was pretty pathetic, even worse than Florida. At the top was a marker surrounded by weeds, power lines and some towers. The large wooden sign that used to mark the highpoint was destroyed utterly and on the ground. We didn't stay there long.

JO at this crappy highpoint, with his car in the background.

Highpoint: Cheaha Mt.
State: Alabama
Height: 2407 ft.
Highpoint #: 12
Date: 7/1/2002
Trails: N/A
Distance: About 20 feet roundtrip.
Vertical Gain: 0
Time Taken: 5 min.
Weather: Cooling down a bit, probably 70’s
Group: JO & BC
Comments: On the way to the Alabama highpoint we had a run-in with the law. It was bound to happen sometime on our supertrip. They pulled us over for weaving and driving too slowly (yeah right). These cops were awful. They thoroughly harassed us and ended up searching the car after threatening to call in a K-9 unit and taking us into the station.  We'd advise others to make their trip through Alabama as speedy as possible (especially since they pull you over for going too slowly). Shaken, but not stirred, we continued on to the Alabama highpoint. There we found a nice lookout tower at the top... which was closed for repairs. In addition, yellow police tape restricted access within a 20 foot radius around the building. First the cops and now this? We crossed the tape and stood on the steps of the highpoint building anyway. The convenient bathroom building nearby was, of course, locked so we showed our appreciation of Alabama in the nearby bushes.

The closed and taped off summit tower on the top of Cheaha Mountain.  Really appropriately crappy and run-down for the state it’s in.

We crashed at a Best Western Inn in Blairsville, GA that night to get ready for our first actual hike of the trip.  We decided to park on GA 180 and hike up the Jack’s Gap Trail instead of driving up to the top.

Go to Tuesday, 7/2/02

Go back to Sunday, 6/30/02