Cross-Country Highpointing Trip, Stop #4
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| Entrance Sign for Cheaha State Park |
After visiting the highpoint in Georgia and surviving
Atlanta metro, rush hour traffic, I realized that I was not all that far from
the highpoint in Alabama and it was still relatively early. Could I visit 4 state highpoints all in the same
day? Shortly after crossing the Alabama
state line, I was buoyed by the chance radio playing of “Sweet Home Alabama”. Why not!
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| Festive Entrance Gate |
I found myself arriving at Cheaha Mountain located in Cheaha
State Park in the early evening, maybe 7ish.
It was pitch black, making this the first highpoint I have ever
attempted at night. As the highpoint is
located in a state park, I was afraid that I might have arrived too late. There is a hotel as well as camping options
within the park, so I could always spend the night and ascend first thing in
the morning if need be. Luckily, that
was not necessary. Once I paid the $2
admission fee on the honor system, I chanced upon a sign indicating that the
day-use area was open until 9pm. I had a
couple of hours to spare!
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| $2 to Enter |
I drove up the hill, and after a few minutes I caught sight
of the bunker tower at the summit. The
lighting was terrible. As I wrote, it
was pitch black, but there was some very modest lighting on the path leading up
to the bunker. I think it was just
enough light to corrupt every single photo I attempted to take of the tower. It is an elaborate structure
worthy of photo, so I will link to one here, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Fortunately, the rest of my photos did come out. I was able to snap (vanity) photos in front
of the summit sign and the geological marker.
The summit sign is very basic, simply saying, “Alabama’s Highest Point”
and giving the elevation as 2,407 feet.
Just a stone’s throw beyond this sign, there is a USGS geological
benchmark marker located in the sidewalk.
I was able to lie down and grab a photo of this one as well.
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| Vanity Shot by the Summit Sign |
The geological marker and the summit sign are sufficient to
claim an ascent, but I wish I could have entered the bunker tower as well. Evidently, even though it is a relatively
squat structure, it does boast an observation tower atop it. I certainly would not have seen anything at
night though. Even during the day, I
question how much of a view there could be as this “mountain” was not
particularly high in elevation, and it does not boast much in the way of
prominence.
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| Vanity Shot at USGS Benchmark Marker |
After my brief photo shoot, I was off to Florala, Alabama to
spend the night. I know that I treated this
particular highpoint as more of a “drive by”, but one can properly spend some
time here. They have really built up the
facilities within the park, so you can camp, cook out, eat at the restaurant, stay at the
hotel, and really do anything that catches your fancy. It is one of the more elaborate highpoints in
that respect.
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| Detail of the Highpoint of Alabama |
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