Lincoln County High Point Trip Report
Date: April 8, 2003
Author: Chip Clark
I decided to head to Lincoln County despite the light drizzle. I found my way to the farm Andy Martin
describes in his report with some help from the locals. (I've decided folks from AL/TN are about the
friendliest on earth.) It was about 6:30 in the evening (still light) and I figured the 1/2 mile walk nearly due
east wouldn't be a problem, despite having only a topo map copy and a flashlight, no compass or GPS.
I figured I would be back in about 30 minutes.
It took a little longer than that. I quickly set out uphill, east-northeast, toward the highpoint, crossing a
light woods road part way up. As Andy mentioned, the summit is rather indistinct, complicated by the mist.
I tramped around the summit awhile, never finding Andy's cairn. There were a number of large trees
blown/and or cut down on the peak though, and it seemed like there were maybe some areas a little higher
on the edge of visual range, about 150 feet away. At this point I decided to chalk this up as a failure and
return to the car -- but as I headed to where I thought west was, I started getting that very uneasy feeling
that I had gotten turned around. I headed downhill, through similar rock ledge territory, crossed that woods
road, I could even see a glimpse of lights through the trees -- and emerged at dusk into a large field that
looked totally unfamiliar.
I was lucky. I jogged across the large field toward the distant lights (finding a bog and later an electric fence,
both the hard way) and when I reached the houses, found I was only a half mile off, but on the right road.
It could have been a lot worse. I would recommend at minimum the supplies Don Holmes listed in an
A2Z a few issues ago. I would also recommend something like pepper spray or mace. The fellow who gave
me a ride back to my car took a .45 also, because of the coyotes. I didn't even think about that.
Bottom line -- be prepared for anything!