Hiking & Driving Up & Over High Knob

This blog was suppose to be a quick one, well that went awry, it has seemed to take forever. So I changed tactic and this is a more in depth blog. With that said, it is always a good day when the Wood Booger returns to his ancestral home in Southwest Virginia and High Knob. For the uninitiated it is the highest mountain in the Cumberland Mountain Range at 4,223 feet and its summit is close to Scott County where my people (on my Dad's side of the family) are from.

Where we are headed, High Knob.

The road in front of the old home place.

So my Dad and I headed over to the family home near Fort Blackmore to meet-up with some friends Steve, Maxine and Steve's nephew to head for a hike to the Viewing Rock of Chimney Rocks. On the way up we passed the road for the now famous Devil's Bathtub and headed up the road toward High Knob.

Raod to Devil's Bathtub.

The road up High Knob.

The road up is a typical Forest Service like road, gravel and not too bumpy. When we arrived at the junction to FS 704 we took this road for two miles. This road was slightly bumper than the main one. Oh, one thing we were not in a truck but a passenger vehicle (a Toyota Camera). This is good to know since the final road we turned on to was even more rugged, but we made it to the trailhead.

The road to...

...the trailhead.

About to head...

...up the trail.

Another thing the path we are hiking is not an "official" trail. Steve and others have worked to reestablish a trail out to what is called Viewing Rock of the Chimney Rocks. The trail is still in the development stage and Steve said some of it might be rerouted. As for now it is a rough half-mile trail out to the Viewing Rock, which is a rock outcrop that gives an excellent view of Chimney Rocks.

Steve explains how the trail came bout.

Dad given tree knowledge.

The trail to...

...Viewing Rock of Chimney Rocks.

This formation is three rocks, one more than the Chimney Tops in the Smokies, that look like the namesake. From the Viewing Rock there doesn't look like a way up, but my Dad says there is. He said that him and my Granddaddy (his father) went raccoon hunting in the area and Reny, my Granddaddy's coon hound, treed one on the Chimney Rocks so you can come in from the other side.

The Chimney Tops...

...& Chimney Rocks.

Two old Wood Boogers at the Viewing Rock.

Maxine, Steve &...

...my Dad.

A group picture.

After enjoying the view we hiked back. Our day was not over as we drove up to visit the summit of High Knob and the new viewing tower.

Half-mile...

....up the road...

...to the tower.

The new tower is the third on the summit the first was built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) in the late 1930's. The second, the more familiar three story structure, replaced the original in 1978. This one lasted almost 30 years when this tower, built of wood, was the victim of arson and burnt down on Halloween, 2007. After seven years the new stone tower opened in August 2014.

Old tower (photo from summitpost).

Clingmans Dome...

...Mount Mitchell...

....& the new...

...High Knob Tower.

At the tower.

Another look up.

The new tower has a little Clingmans Dome and Mount Mitchell towers in it. It has ramp that makes it wheelchair accessible, but the path up is not as much so, it is gravel. Besides the gravel path there is a trail that heads straight up which means you can do a loop. From the top you have a great vista with views of such mountains as Virginia's Highest Peak, Mount Rogers, Bays Mountain near Kingsport and if you look close Mount LeConte in the Smokies. If you want a cool website that shows the location of some of the sites from the mountain check this page out. Unfortunately also visible is examples of man's greed as the effects of strip mining and mountain top removal scar a number of peaks. I remember when my Granddaddy showed me some areas like these when I was a kid and those images always stuck with me. This is just an example of sh*tting where you eat!

Straight path up.

Looking back at the parking area & Eagle Knob.

In the distance Mount Rogers (62 miles).

Bays Mountain & behind it Camp Creek Bald.

96 miles away Mt. LeConte.

Behind Clinch Mountain is the Roan Highlands (62 miles).

?

Norton, VA.

Sad!

One of the things I noticed around the tower at the summit was the wildflowers. I had never seen such a concentration of wildflowers anywhere I mean there was all kinds. Some mid-summer ones like Dasiy Fleabane and then late summmer and autumn ones like Jewelweed, but many others.

Daisy Fleabane

Chicory

Ironweed

White Snakeroot

Goldenrod

Great Blue Lobelia

Mountain St. Johnswort

Yellow Jewelweed

It has been a long since I was on the High Knob Summit and I will say that it is a nice tower, but they may have to cut back some of the treese to help with the view. I would like to come back up here in the winter.

U.S. Geological Survey Marker.

One last look back...

...where we are headed.

After coming down from the tower we saw a sign for the trail leading down to the High Knob Recreation Area, including the lake. If I had been to the recreation area before, I didn't remember it so we decided to head down to the lake.The High Knob Recreation Area is another one of those nice facilities that owes its exstence to the CCC.

Sign for the recreation area.

Memorial to those who built it.

Little amphitheater.

Chief Benges Trail cuts through here.

The restrooms...

...& shower facilities.

There are places to camp and there is running water, electricty and hot showers here. Like I have said a number of times we would have nothing if not for the CCC! High Knob is a small, but pictureques four-acre lake which has a one-mile loop trail around the lake. So, a course I wanted to do this hike and my Dad said go ahead he would wait for me. besides the lake the other highlight was the High Knob Lake Dam. After passing the dam and heading back up for the last half who did I meet? My Dad, he decided to hike torward me, he just said he wanted to  so we hiked out.

Lakeshore Trail...

I am headed to the dam...

...on the yellow blazed trail.

Before headed on the trail...

...I took a look at the dam.

Man-made waterfall.

Look who I ran into.

The trail and a large rhododendron.

Old beaver dam.

We think he made it back?

As we crossed the last footbridge we spotted what looked like an old beaver dam and evidence that a beaver tried to chew through a tree. My Dad thought there might be evidence of foul play as a guy we helped push his kayak was nowhere to be seen but the lady he was with was...you never know? Anyway, it was back to the car and time to head home. Before I finish I must mention that we took the road down to Norton from High Knob. What is significant is that the High Knob Road on the Wise County side, while curvy, it is paved. Not so much so on the Scott County side (it is time to pave this road). Well that is my day out this past weekend.

Saying goodbye...

....heading down...

...High Knob.