Ascent of Stone Mountain State Park High Point on 2013-11-25| Others in Party: | Willie-Weimaraner Musser -- Trip Report or GPS Track
----Only Party on Mountain | | Date: | Monday, November 25, 2013 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | Stone Mountain State Park High Point | | Location: | USA-North Carolina | | Elevation: | 2687 ft / 818 m |
Ascent Trip ReportOne of the coldest days in Nov. any of the locals can remember and this had to the be the day my family tries out our restored Serro Scotty Trailer? After hiking in VA the previous day and in 10 degree weather, my family wanted to sleep in but not Willie and I. We awoke to a warm 25 degree morning at our site and set out to bushwhack the nearest peak.
As it turns out, the nearest peak to the campground in Stone Mountain State Park (SP) is an unnamed mountain on the southeast border of the park and it stands a good 800 feet above the trailer sites! Perfect. Although it is a subpeak to another taller mountain over 3000 feet on the other side of US 21 the connecting saddle still leaves about 200 feet of prominence and the other sides are steep down so a nice morning hike was in order. We worked our way up the ridges and around the rocky formations as the cold icey conditions and leaf litter was slippery and both dog and man had trouble getting our feet planted in places.
Once we made top it was quite colder! I poured some water out in a dish for Willie and then set up a camera for a master and puppy shot when I noticed the water was already icing over in his dish! Willie learned to track a scent on this bushwhack. I had tied a few blue tape markers along the way to make sure the quickest path down was known, and watched amazed as Willie, Weimerauner nose to the ground weaved his way leading me through each turn between each Rhododendron we had come thru on the way up!
Only once did he lose the scent and I had to set his course back along the blue tape path we had climbed. At one point, we reached the steepest side of the mountain and we both had no choice but to slide on the leaf litter down to a less steep face. We were back and in the trailer before Daniel and Karen had even awaken. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 807 ft / 245 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 1.8 mi / 2.9 km | | Route: | End of camploop and bushwhack | | Trailhead: | Campsite Loop on Sandy Creek 1880 ft / 573 m | | Grade/Class: | 2 | | Quality: | 3 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Bushwhack | | Weather: | Cold, Breezy, Clear
25F cold and windy |
This page has been served 339 times since 2005-01-15.
|
