Brasstown Bald, GA (4,784′)
Distance: 1.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 450 ft.

Sassafras Mountain, SC (3,554′)
Distance: 4.7 mi.
Elevation Gain: 1900 ft.

Mt. Mitchell & Mt. Craig, NC (6,684′ & 6,647′)
Distance: 2.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 750 ft.

Clingmans Dome, TN (6,643′)
Distance: 1.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 350 ft.

Black Mt., KY (4,139′)
Distance: 0.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 50 ft.

Mt. Rogers, VA (5,729′)
Distance: 8.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 1300 ft.

Distance Driven: 860 mi.

I had to be in Staunton, VA for work on Monday morning and rather than just flying into DC or one of the local airports Sunday like a regular person, I decided to fly into Atlanta on a Friday night red eye and try to get up as many state high points as possible in a weekend.

I managed to get 3-ish hours of sleep on the flight and arrived in Atlanta at 5 am. I got my rental car and was on my way north to Brasstown Bald, the high point of Georgia. It took about 2.5 hours to get up there and was hiking around 8 am. It costs $5 for a day parking pass, but there were no attendants when I got there on a very foggy day. In fact I did the short hike to the top, explored all the closed buildings and made my way back down without seeing anyone else. It was kind of eerie in the fog.

I was back to driving a little after 8:30 and enjoyed the windy drive through the clouds on my way to South Carolina. The drive was just over 2 hours with and then I geared up at the trailhead for an actual hike. There is a road to the top of Sassafras Mountain, which lies on the border of North and South Carolina, but I elected to hike it from Chimneytop Gap on the west side of the mountain to stretch my legs. There is small parking area maybe 100′ to the north of the trailhead.

This hike was very pleasant and I was pretty much alone on a rainy Saturday. I think I saw two people near the summit but that was the extent of other visitors. The top has a big round summit structure with handicap ramps like most of the others I visited on this trip. I was thoroughly soaked when I reached the top but it was still nice to sit on some dry woodships under one of the ramps for lunch with a beer. I didn’t linger long and backtracked to my car around 12:30.

I changed all my clothes and drove north a little more than two hours to get to the high point of North Carolina. I had contemplated doing an actual hike up Mt. Mitchell via Black Mountain campground and the Briar Bottom trail, but it was getting late and the rain wasn’t letting up. I also wanted to go over to my namesake Mt. Craig (second highest mountain east of the Mississippi) so I drove up to the summit parking lot of Mitchell and just did the hike over to Craig and back.

I starting hiking toward Mt. Craig at about 3:30 PM, once again in a thick misty fog. After a great selfie with the summit plaque I headed back for the super short hike to the top of Mitchell. There were a few more people here but still probably a minimum for such a touristy place in June.

I headed back down to Asheville to get some food and to check out a brewery. I had originally thought I would find a quieter part of town and sleep in my car, but there were so many drunk people everywhere near the brewery district. I don’t know if there was some special event or something but there were loads of people stumbling around the streets before 6 PM.

I checked our a few breweries I was interested in but seemed really busy and weren’t really my scene that day. I ultimately ended up having a beer at Dirt Jack’s, a smaller pub associated with Green Man Brewing just down the street. It was still quite busy but there was room to sit down and relax. After grabbing some food I decided to head out of town to find a darker quieter place to sleep. I ended up driving about half way to Clingman’s Dome to a viewpoint (Thomas Divide Overlook I think) along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was a much better night’s sleep in a car and I even got a nice firefly show, something I never get out west.

I was up with the sun (but still in a misty cloud) and drove the rest of the way to Clingman’s Dome. I started hiking up the paved trail at about 7 am in an even thicker fog that the previous day’s. Its a really short trail up to another concrete lookout with a spiraling ramp. I went up and down back to my car without seeing anyone else again (lots of cars in the parking lot still). I was back on the road at 7:30 for the 3.5 hour drive north to the high point of Kentucky. I was happy to pick up donuts in Gatlinburg but the ridiculous commercialization of our Smoky Mountain National Park in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge made me sad.

The high point of Kentucky was definitely the low point as far as this trip goes. Driving into the area was pretty but the final road toward the summit was a bit rough and the mining area wasn’t so inviting. I parked a short distance from the summit below a particularly rough piece of road. There are several small buildings and towers fenced off near the summit, but just to the southeast is a small monument commemorating the summit, complete with an ammo can summit register.

I reached the ‘top’ at about 11:15 am and had a quick lunch before heading for my final state highpoint, Mt. Rogers. The drive was about 3 hours and there was a $7 parking fee to access the Grayson Highlands State Park. I geared up for a wet one. It was still super foggy but rainy pretty hard as well. There were a few other people here on this Sunday morning, but again probably pretty quiet for a June weekend.

I started up the trail at 2:45 PM and had to avoid some standing water and confusing trail splits. eventually I found myself on the Appalachian Trail ‘southbound’ toward the summit. I actually saw a few people through here and even a few through hikers. When I took the final spur trail toward the summit I found myself wading up a creek, often more than ankle deep. It was kind of fun since the water wasn’t too cold. I enjoyed the summit with 3 others before making my way down. I took a break at a shelter where some through hikers were taking shelter to ‘trail magic’ them some of my snacks.

On my way down I did manage to run into one of the famous Grayson Highlands ponies in the fog. It continued munching grass and didn’t care what I did. I finished the hike down and found myself back at the car at 5:30 . My final drive, mostly up I-81, was another 3 hours to Lexington, VA where I was staying prior to my work day in Staunton on Monday.

Work was good and I eventaully ended up at Washington-Dulles airport for my return to Seattle. A great add-on to a work trip!

More photos
(Download the free Gaia GPS app on your phone to view tracks and then get a Gaia GPS membership if you want offline access. Discount below!)

Recommended brew: Green Man LUV ALL Brut IPA

Download Brasstown Bald Track
Download Sassafras Mt. Track
Download Craig & Mitchell Track
Download Clingman’s Dome Track
Download Black Mt. Track
Download Mt. Rogers Track

Gear Used:

• GPS
• Rain gear
• Rental car
• Trail runners
• Trekking poles

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