It had been too long since the last high point. Time for another.

Today, Cheaha Mountain in Cheaha State Park of Alabama. The park is located in or near the Talladega National Forest. There isn’t much else around, which I appreciate. There are a lot of trails in the area, such as the Pinhoti trail which is 335 miles long and passes through the park.

However, trails that start a fair distance from Cheaha Mountain and actually reach the summit are sparse. I selected the Lake Trail, named so because it starts next to a…lake. It was 1 mile from the trailhead to the road where the trail came to an end. As you can see in the pictures, it was a beautiful day. 60 degrees and sunny. Great visibility. Clear skies.

The Lake trail is steep. I would call it strenuous to very-strenuous. It charges straight up the side of the mountain. There are lots of big boulders and high steps to take. The trail is fairly each to follow since it looks like 4 drunk rednecks all blazed it together at the same time.

The Lake Trail eventually tops out at the road. From there, if you hang a left, you can walk along the one way road until you reach a campground. From there you can see the high point through a break cut for power lines. There is supposed to be a trail to the top of the mountain from the campground, but it was not easy to follow. I wound up bushwhacking to the top.

At the top you find all sorts of fun. There is a museum of sorts, a Boy Scouts of America statue, and even a US Geological Survey marker.

Of course there is also this.

I can’t respect a state high point when they pimp it out to the highest bidder. There was a road the top, playgrounds, and all of this mess. Sorry Alabama, but you are in the bottom tier of state high points because of this decision.

On the way back I stopped in at the Pulpit Rock trail. It was off the road I was walking back to my trailhead. Its about a 1/2 mile round trip, but the views are fantastic.

I tried to pick up a beer in Alabama but they are still lost in previous decades and looked at me weird when I wanted to buy beer on a Sunday. So I went to my faithful Smyrna World of Beverage back home and picked up my victory beer: Monkeynaut from Straight to Ale. Nice IPA – very good.

Cheers to peak #14. Until next time…