DAY 6 ... last day of the trip!When I arrived at Cheaha State Park the night before, I’d asked if I could pick my own site in the campground. I was told that was fine but I needed to call back to the office to let them know which one I’d selected. I drove around the campground twice looking for a site that was level, scenic, and had a little privacy. The road was in bad shape, the sites weren’t much better, and despite being on top of the tallest mountain in Alabama there was no view to be seen. Added to this, the trees had been ripped apart by a winter ice storm lending an eerie air to the place. I finally settled in on a site and picked up my cell phone to call the office. No signal. So I walked around the campground. No signal. So I walked up the road. No signal. So I walked out a spur road to a lodge and finally got enough of a signal to call the office and my DH. By then the sun had set but I made it back to the camper before it got totally dark. It was a quiet night and morning dawned with tendrils of fog drifting through the wounded trees.
After breakfast, I loaded up and drove over to the lodge I’d walked to the night before. I’d noticed a trailhead there and had time for a short walk. The 1520 foot long Doug Ghee Accessible Trail boardwalk leads to Bald Rock. It may be an accessible trail but on this morning it was slick with frozen fog.
A plaque along the boardwalk tells how the 2413 foot high mountain got its name. The Muskegon’s, a branch of the Creek tribe, called it “Chaha” or “high place”. Although 2413 feet may not sound particularly high in comparison to western mountains, land at the base of the mountain is at elevation 1445 so the mountain rises about a 1000 feet above the surrounding terrain. I’d say that definitely qualifies it as a “high place”.
Another plaque talks about how this most southerly end of the Blue Ridge mountains was formed. These eastern mountains are much older than the mountains of the west and are thus much more worn and rounded.
For the most part, the rocky skeleton of these mountains is now covered with a layer of soil that is in turn covered with trees. Patches of fog still clung tightly to the twisted trunks of these trees along the boardwalk.
These trees are small and wiry due to the harsh weather afflicting this exposed location.
Frequent fogs such as the one at the time of my visit sustain a thick layer of lichens on the tree limbs.
I finally reached the end of the boardwalk where a view similar to that I’d seen from Pine Mountain opened up before me. At least I think it would be similar if I could see through the thick fog lying over the land below. The overlook faces west and so would have been an excellent place from which to watch the sunset the night before. But on this morning I watched as the arc of the mountain’s shadow silently slid closer to the base of this chaha, this high place, as the sun climbed behind me.
The presence of this isolated rock outcrop, Bald Rock, allows one’s gaze to pierce the cloak of trees that otherwise shrouds the mountain.
Closer at hand, frozen dew sparkled on the short needles of a pine.
By the time I turned back towards the parking lot, the sun had melted the frost on the boardwalk and was making progress in burning off the fog on the mountaintop.
Or at least I thought the fog was burning off. Back at the parking lot I was once again encompassed by it and the sun was struggling to shine through.
Next to the Bald Rock trailhead parking lot is the stone lodge I’d seen the night before. When I arrived at the park, I’d passed another lodge near the park entrance that was open for business but this one was closed for the season.
The park road encircles the top of the mountain. Driving around the loop on my way out, I found the opposite side of the mountain was fog free. Unfortunately, there was no break in the trees in this area and so no view but I did get a good look at an old stone dam.
Continuing out of the park and down the mountain, I found myself once again immersed in fog, one much thicker than that at the top of the mountain. I had descended into the fog I’d seen from Bald Rock. Here’s the view from an overlook on Highway 281. Pretty impressive huh?
The highway continued to descend until, from the next overlook, I could peek a little ways under the fog.
By the time I reached the third overlook I was low enough to see a good ways under the fog but still high enough to have a bit of a view of the Talladega National Forest as it stretched out before me. This marked the end of my dawdling. Time to make a beeline for home.
I left the green forest behind and returned to a land of farms and cities. Pausing at a red light, I looked up at the underside of a bridge above me. It was obviously quite old and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was one that contributed to the failing grade given to the nation’s infrastructure. Hey, bridge, please hold up those 18-wheelers rumbling over me just a little bit longer!
As lunchtime approached I had an area in mind where I wanted to stop. Either one of these restaurants sounds good but not this day. This day I just want to fix something up in the camper and enjoy a bit of a view while I eat.
And this’ll do fine … the Guntersville City Park on Guntersville Lake. The parking lot was level, there was no one else there except for a couple drive through sightseers, and flocks of birds dotted the dock and lake. Birds are fine entertainment while one eats!
After eating I went outside to take a few pictures of the many gulls.
Continuing on, I stopped at another city park on the opposite side of the lake. And here there was another dock, this one populated with a large number of cormorants. I stopped to take some pictures. Peweeeee! The stench hit me as soon as I opened the truck door. I’m glad I came across the park with the gulls before I did this one because the smell was so bad here I would’ve lost my appetite.
Well, it’d been a good trip but it was time to get home where my DH was awaiting my return. And as I approached home I was treated to one last beautiful sunset on the road.
And ttttthat’s all folks!
