My wife and I did the Southern 6 Pack as part of a 9 state Highpointing trip in April 2006. Sorry if this seems like a trip report.
Flew into Atlanta and visited Georgia Aquarium on April 8. Drove to
Brasstown Bald the next day. Climbed via the Jacks Knob Trail 5.8 miles round trip. Nobody on the trail. A lot of the people at the parking lot and at the museum on top. Very nice hike on a sunny day. A ranger unlocked a gate so that I could take a picture of the USGS benchmark. HP #7.
Drove to
Sassafras from Blairsville, GA on the very scenic Hwy. 64 in North Carolina. Very curvy road along a lovely trout stream with many waterfalls. Drove to parking lot of Sassafras below summit since we missed the Foothills Trail trailhead. Saw a pileated woodpecker. Hiked a short distance to register box. Found Foothills Trail on the way down and hiked on it for a mile or two. Lovely spring day. HP #8.
Drove to Asheville, NC from Sassafras Mtn, SC. Attempted to access Hwy. 128 from the East from Hwy. 80 to Blue Ridge Parkway. Road closed due to damage from Hurricane Frances. Drove 80 miles back around to Asheville and drove up Blue Ridge Parkway to Hwy. 128. Parked at campground below
Mt. Mitchell. Hiked 2 miles round trip on the Old Mount Mitchell Trail. Few people. Clear day with nice views at the summit. HP #9.
Drove to Cherokee from Asheville, NC to Hwy. 441. Stopped at Sugarlands Visitor Center and were told that we wouldn't be able to go to summit because of repairs to the area at the top. Drove on
Clingman's Dome Road to parking lot. Hiked 2 miles round trip on Forney Ridge Trail to Appalachian Trail and then to the summit. No official looking people around so we climbed the "curved cement bridge to nowhere." Met a few through hikers on the AT. Very nice hike on a perfect day. Drove back to Maggie Valley on the Blue Ridge Parkway. HP #10.
Mount Rogers: Drove to Damascus, VA from Asheville, NC and had breakfast. Climbed from Massie Gap trailhead. Saw some ponies right away. Walked north up to the AT. Hiked AT up Wilburn Ridge to Thomas Knob shelter. USFS helicopter flew over and dropped several fire fighters off in front of us. Talked to one and was told that they were going to do a controlled burn. "You will have to turn around." I told him that I wasn't going to turn around, I came to summit. He let me go and said that I might have to stay on top for awhile. We continued on to the Mount Rogers Spur Trail and reached the summit and had lunch. Hiked down through the burned area. Very smoky. Saw more ponies on the way back down. Warm day, but cloudy. One of my favorite hikes of our HP trip. HP #11.
Black Mountain:
Drove to Appalachia, KY from Mount Rogers, VA shortly before dark. Drove up steep and curvy Hwy. 160 to the dirt road. Road very rough. Parked and hiked to the summit. Very trashy summit. I seriously considered cleaning the area up, but it was getting dark. Found benchmark and left. HP #12.
Backbone Mountain:Started the day in Norton, VA and drove through West Virginia to get to the trailhead. Very nice evening hike. Well-marked trail. Nice summit. Mailbox, register, and certificates for hikers who complete this HP. HP #13.
"We are not that far from Mount Davis you know," I said to my wife at 7:30 PM while we finished hiking on Backbone Mt. the HP of Maryland. So we got in the car and drove through a thunderstorm in the dark to Salisbury, PA. Drove to the summit parking lot and found the HP and benchmark on a rock in the dark. Left summit at about 9:30 PM and still had to drive to Seneca Rocks, WV to get to our cabin. HP #14.
Drove to Spruce Knob from Seneca Rocks, WV on long, rough, curvy road to summit parking lot. Thunderstorms. Cold and windy at the top. Hiked around on the nearby trails and met some interesting people. HP #15 and our 9th HP of the week.