Climbing Cheaha Mountain
Climbing to the top of Cheaha Mountains was so far one of the easiest 50 state high points I’ve done. This means for those that require actual hiking and not high points like Delaware or Kansas! I’m a bit annoyed I didn’t take a photo of the entrance to trail, which was a large impressive gate that was decorated by leaves of local trees. I at least took a photo of the details of the drawings, but not the entire gate itself. According to the information here, you can possibly come across trees such as Virginia pine, huckleberries, or even black cherry trees.
Since I visited in winter, I didn’t get to see plants and beautiful trees in full foliage. Snow usually helps winter scenery, but more often than not this is the kind of winter scenery you can expect. Nearly ten years ago I had hiked somewhere else in Alabama and was surprised to see traces of snow, so it can happen! Regarding the hike, it’s possible to drive straight to the summit, but I at least tried to add some trail to make me feel like I earned my way to the top of Cheaha Mountian. As you can see the photo above shows the trail right by the street, and the sign below indicates it’s only half a mile to the summit, even down to the 100th of a mile!
Well I gotta hand it to Cheaha mountain for being dense with wildlife. Despite the fact that this trail was ridiculously short and that it was winter, I saw quite a bit on my short hike. These birds have both been positively identified as a Tufted Titmouse above, and an eastern bluebird below. I don’t ever recall seeing the eastern bluebird back home in Virginia, so they must stick to warmer southern areas!
This is likely the worst photo I’ve ever taken of a deer. Considering how little time I had before he took off and all the branches in the way I did my best. The deer was another unexpected sight on my short hike, which likely took me less than 30 minutes altogether. I actually ended up following the deer into the woods to try to get a better photo, and ended up in someone’s backyard. Cheaha is also definitely not a remote peak.
Another unexpected encounter was Big Foot. Alabama is proud of their state highpoint and put up a a gazebo with some information, and even an observation tower. The big foot was warning about littering and reminding visitors to leave no trace, while the sign below describes a bit about the mountain.
I’ve had a minor hope to climb all the 50 states with snow or ice present somewhere on the mountain or route. Obviously the southeastern region would by far be the biggest challenge. I had little hope to see either on Cheaha mountain, but to my surprise this tower at the summit was covered in ice. Strong wind was violently shattering the ice off the tower, and sometimes dangerous chunks would fly to the ground. Right next to the tower is the true summit, with myself holding up a piece of ice below.
Of course the observation tower isn’t included in Cheaha Mountain’s total elevation, but regardless I still felt I had to climb to the top in order for this to count. There were only about two flights of stairs that rose to the top. The inside was surprisingly humid, and as I climbed higher it even looked like some of the run off was depositing minerals. The photo below shows some white build up that might have grown to be a stalactite over time if it was hanging down vertically.
Lastly here is a view from Cheaha mountain, the top of Alabama at 2,407 feet (733 meters)! This marked my second southeastern high point after reaching to the top of Georgia a year before.
