Friday, March 2, 2018

Looking Up, America's High Points.

South Carolina

I have had problems in my latest blogs, so instead of stretching "Part 2" of my life story to a breaking point, I am going to write about places I've been.

The first series will be my recollections of my visits in recent years to the high points in Amerca. This will be what I know from the "drivers seat", so to speak.

Historically, the first high point I visited was either Tennessee's Clingmans Dome, or my home state's Brasstown Bald. However, I will fast forward to my present quest, and start with South Carolina.

I live at about 1000 feet above see level, About a half mile lower and About 38 miles southwest of Sassafras Mountain. I have never seen any sassafras growing there, but I have long forgotten what that looks like. It takes a little over an hour to get there.

Anyway, my wife and I have been there many times. The peak shares a bench, monument and radio tower, and soon, a panoramic view of North and South Carolina. 

I had hoped the planned viewing platform would have been finished before last falls eclipse but that didn't happen. The preparations turned what was once a peaceful park in the woods to a wasteland. But one day soon...

On the waste slope, right off the gravel parking lot, is a modern overlook that looks over the local lakes toward Georgia. The horizon does not allow a view of Georgia's Brasstown Bald.

The monument, or placard, at the top gives the height at 3560 feet above see level. Since South Carolina has beaches, the math would give a mean elevation for the state to be 1780 feet. Keep that in mind when I cover other high points.

I miss the scenic wooded peak. Here is Debbie at the top back then. Below that is the scene now. I hope that soon there will be a modern platform or tower with at least grass and shrubbery at ground level.

About Me: Part 2.3

Our trip South from the northwoods yielded plenty of chances to see Lake Superior's northern shore. We had used up much of our day getting to the highpoint and our host for the night awaited somewhere in northern Wisconsin. But I had decided to see all the Great Lakes, so I took a lot of pictures.

 So you can see, we were pushing daylight to get past Duluth before nightfall. Through a comedy of errors and Google maps misdirection, we made it to Paul Peterson's house to feast on stuffed pheasant!