Georgia Natural Wonder #20 - Brasstown Bald. 1,554

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #20 - Brasstown Bald

Brasstown Bald is the highest point in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located in northeast Georgia, the mountain is known to the native Cherokee people as Enotah. Highest in a spine of mountains collectively known as Wolfpen Ridge, Brasstown Bald looms over the Southern Appalachians taller but less popular than its' better known brothers, Blood Mountain GNW #12 and Tray Mountain GNW # 13. Easily recognized by the tower atop the peak it is actually the third station to sit on the acme.



Natural History of Brasstown Bald

The pristine wilderness from which Brasstown Bald rises is in and of itself unique. Below the peak to the north and east is a "cloud forest," the only one in Georgia. This environmentally sensitive slope features lichen covered yellow birch and spectacular wildflower displays. The area is usually dripping wet from the moisture in the clouds that give this forest its name. A boulderfield typical of a cloud forest is nearby, but be cautious--the rocks are slippery.



Here in the shadow of Brasstown Bald is the southernmost habitat of many northern species and home to many animals that populate the forests of Georgia including the brown bear. Off hour visitors often report bear sightings in the park itself. Herb, allium(locally called ramp), and wood fern abound. More astute naturalists will detect a wide variety of lesser known plant and animal life.


These bears get sighted every day at the summit visitor center.

At the base of Brasstown Rosebay Rhododendron are dominant, but are replaced by Purple Rhododendron as the trail climbs. Trees at the base are a mix of large oak and a variety hardwoods. As the path climbs the trees are smaller. The top of the shrub bald is covered by an unusual dwarf forest. Twisted and gnarled branches of both red and white oak create an unusual sight. Because Wolfpen Ridge is predominantly hardwood, Brasstown Bald is a wonder to behold in the fall. Normally the best colors occur during the third week in October.



Description

The name in English is derived from a mistaken translation of the term for the nearby Cherokee village of Brasstown, located along the upper Brasstown Creek (named in English from the same error) feeding the Hiawassee River. Across the North Carolina state line, immediately north of the mountain, are other places named in that error of English settlers: Brasstown, a community in the Brasstown township of Clay County, North Carolina.


TRD photo of mountain top laurel.

Brasstown Bald is partly in both Towns and Union counties, the peak being divided by the county line. The mountain is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains (part of the Appalachian Mountains), and within the borders of the Blue Ridge Ranger District of the Chattahoochee National Forest. The mountain consists mostly of soapstone and dunite.


TRD daughters years ago.

On a clear day, it is possible to see the tall buildings of Atlanta from the summit. From the Visitors Center is an unencumbered 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains. Visible from the top are Rabun Bald (Georgia's second highest mountain, slightly north of due east), Blood Mountain (south of due west), and the Cohutta Mountains, (due west of the center).


TRD panorama.

The U.S. Forest Service has webcams atop the observation tower, and a RAWS weather station further down the mountain.

History

White men first visited the area around Brasstown Bald in the 1500's under the command of Hernando deSoto while controlled by Georgia's first inhabitants, Georgia's Moundbuilders. Cherokee inhabited the area near the bald as early as 1650. The Cherokee, who called it Enotah, respected the peak but worshiped Blood Mountain, unusual in a culture that traditionally took the highest places as holy.


TRD sculpted a holy snowman atop the tower.

According to the two Georgia historical markers, the area surrounding Brasstown Bald was settled by the Cherokee people. English-speaking settlers derived the word "Brasstown" from a translation error of the Cherokee word for its village place. Settlers confused the word Itse'yĭ" (meaning "New Green Place" or "Place of Fresh Green"), which the Cherokee used for their village, with Ûňtsaiyĭ ("brass"), and referred to the settlement as Brasstown.


The laser focus and concentration, a TRD trait.

Cherokee legend tells that a great flood swept over the land. All the people died except a few Cherokee families who sought refuge in a giant canoe. The canoe ran aground at the summit of a forested mountain (now known as Enotah). As there was no wild game for the people to hunt and no place for them to plant crops, the Great Spirit killed all the trees on the top of the mountain so that the surviving people could plant crops. They continued planting and lived from their crops until the water subsided.


Top (Laser focus) Row Dawg still holds record for highest snowman in Georgia history. 

When whites began to encroach en masse after the Georgia Gold Rush the Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed from the area in the "Trail of Tears." Other spellings of names given to Brasstown Bald by the Cherokee: Echia, Echoee, Etchowee and Enotah. The term "Bald" is common terminology in the southern Appalachians describing mountaintops that have 360-degree unobstructed views.

T.S. Candler Memorial

Former Georgia Supreme Court Judge Thomas S. Candler is memorialized with a stone monument at Brasstown Bald; it was erected in 1971 three months before he died in recognition of his efforts to support visitors to the mountain.



Thomas Slaughter Candler (1890-1971) was born to William Ezekiel Candler and Mary Haralson on December 15, 1890, in nearby Blairsville, Georgia. Candler was a graduate from Young Harris College in 1913 and later attended the University of Georgia Law School, where he received his degree in 1915. After graduating, Candler returned to Blairsville. He began to practice law and became a prominent public figure in the community. He supported creating a visitors center at Brasstown Bald for the public.


My kids really enjoyed the visitor center.

In 1953, T.S. Candler was appointed as a Georgia Supreme Court judge, where he served until he retired in 1966. Judge Candler died on September 15, 1971.

The Tower is built

Today Arthur Woody still greets visitors to the tower that he conceived, originally designed and, with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps, built. The story of how those structures got there goes back to a young man who grew up not far from the peak in the sleepy town of Suches, Ga. The world to Arthur didn't extend much past the town of Dahlonega to the south. He lived where the places took the names of families in the area, and his family was no exception, lending it's name to Woody Gap and Woody Lake. Arthur grew up with simple dreams, like most boys. He dreamed of his beloved mountains covered with trees the way his father described, before the lumber companies stripped the land bare. He dreamed of deer, frolicking without a care in these imaginary woods. He advocated stocking streams with sought after fish and a conservation program to help rebuild the deer population that was almost non-existent at the start of the 20th century. And he dreamed of tower, to watch it all from, on the highest point in Georgia.



In the midst of the Great Depression, the opportunity arose to build the tower of which he dreamed. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), formed to provide work and a living wage for unemployed men, moved into the area. Headquartered in a storage shed in Suches, the men spread out across the Georgia National Forest constructing buildings that would remain as monuments to a time long past. The shelter on Blood Mountain is one of their buildings, as was the original tower on Brasstown Bald. A rough sketch of the tower was completed in less than a week on Arthur Woody's kitchen table. The men would follow (and improve) an old logging road up to the peak, build a camp and use local material to construct the station. The stone building was completed during the summer of 1935 and remained until a modern steel structure was completed by its side in the late 1940's.



The present stone structure, completed in 1965, sits near the location of the original tower and houses a museum that explains much of the natural and human history of the area in an exhibit entitled "Man and the Mountain", hosted by a very lifelike Arthur Woody.



The center is also home to a small locomotive that was used to haul wood off the mountains to nearby saw mills. One of the most interesting displays takes visitors inside the mountain itself to explore the geology of Georgia's tallest peak.



Access to the tower is restricted.



However, a 360 degree panoramic vista of North Georgia and neighboring states can be seen from the observation deck.



Night people

On a dark night in March, 1997, amateur astronomer John Iatesta journeyed to the mountain armed with a highly specialized camera to photograph the comet Hale-Bopp. The mountain offered him a refuge from light, the astronomer's worst enemy, and, as the highest point in Georgia, reduces the "atmospheric turbulence" to the lowest levels in the state. Climbing the bald at 2:00 a.m., John took this remarkable picture of Hale-Bopp. Astrophotography is popular at the Bald, and astronomers from Atlanta are frequent visitors.



Distances to summit

From the northeast, starting at the intersection of Owl Creek Road and the concurrent Georgia 17 and Georgia 75 near Mountain Scene, the climb is 8.4 miles long, gaining 2,717 ft.

From the southeast, starting at the intersection of Georgia 180 and Georgia 17/75 near Sooky Gap, the climb is 8.1 miles long, gaining 2,592 ft, an average of 6.0% grade.

From the west, starting at the intersection of Georgia 180 and Georgia 348 near Choestoe, the climb is 9.3 miles, gaining 2,808 ft, an average of 5.7% grade.

From the intersection of Route 180 and Route 180 Spur at Jacks Gap, the climb is 3.0 miles, gaining 1,808 ft, at an average gradient of 11.2%, .

An additional route to the summit is the Wagon Train Trail, starting at Young Harris College. The trail is traditionally hiked by graduating students and their families on the evening before graduation; a vespers service is held at the summit.


Group of gals walking the Wagon Train Trail.

Tour de Georgia

The Tour de Georgia was North America's premier, professional cycling event and rolling festival from 2003 to 2008. It shined the world's spotlight on the state of Georgia each spring, the international event was an annual, multi-day, professional cycling stage race that drew the most elite cyclists and showcased one-of-a-kind towns and terrain of the Southeast. The race generated international attention when the U.S. Postal Service cycling team began using it as part of Lance Armstrong's preparation for the Tour de France. Armstrong rode in the race before his Tour victories in 2004 and 2005, winning in 2004, and Floyd Landis won it before his Tour victory in 2006.


Armstrong on the Bald in 2005.

In the 2005 through 2008 editions of the Tour de Georgia, a long-distance bicycle race, Brasstown Bald was the site of an hors categorie "King of the Mountains stage" finish.



Broadcasting

NOAA Weather Radio station KXI22 transmits from atop the mountain, simulcasting with KXI75 from Blue Ridge, Georgia. The programming originates from NWSFO Peachtree City.



Georgia Public Broadcasting had or has construction permits from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for two low-power broadcast translator stations at the summit. The digital TV station on channel 12 (W12DK-D, licensed December 2009) is the direct replacement for analog TV station W04BJ in nearby Young Harris, and also covers for W50AB in nearby Hiawassee (both to the north). New station WBTB FM 90.3 will transmit at just 97 watts, equivalent to several hundred watts because of the height above average terrain of over 700 meters, or more than 2,300 feet. Both stations will have Young Harris as the city of license.

Visiting the Mountain

The public can drive to the parking center near the top via Georgia State Route 180 Spur. The visitor's center at the top of the mountain and the gift shop/bookstore at the parking center lot are open daily from May to October and on weekends through November. A picnic area at the south end of the visitor parking center has 15 tables.



The $5 admission fee (per adult) at the parking lot gate house includes shuttle service to the top. The recreation area, including the parking lot, Summit Trail and observation deck, is always open (weather permitting) to the public. After hours fee is $3 for individuals over 16 years of age.



Most visitors take the shuttle from the parking center gift shop for access to the summit. You may have to wait a few minutes for one. For the more adventurous there is a trail. This steep, paved trail leads from the parking lot to the Visitor Information Center at the summit.



It would probably be better to call this footpath up and down instead of in and out. Although difficult, this is an excellent hike for most people. Frequent stopping places along the path make it achievable for most hikers. As you climb from the parking lot to the summit the change in flora is the equivalent of walking a thousand miles further north. Did I mention the shuttle was free with your $5 entrance to parking lot fee. The trail leads to the same place the free shuttle does. The top of Brasstown Bald is 500 feet higher than the start of the parking lot trail. Be sure to carry a jacket for warmth at the top except during the summer. Todd will love our GNW gal of day.



Well there you have it. The top 20 Natural Wonders of Georgia.

The original seven,

Stone Mountain 
Okefenokee Swamp 
Amicalola Falls 
Tallulah Gorge 
Warm Springs
Jekyll Island Forest 
Marble vein in Longswamp Valley in Pickens County

The current seven

Stone Mountain
Okefenokee Swamp
Amicalola Falls
Tallulah Gorge
Warm Springs
Providence Canyon
Radium Springs

and the next eleven wonders as decreed by Top Row Dawg.

10. Cloudland Canyon
11. Pigeon Mountain
12. Blood Mountain
13. Tray Mountain
14. Mt. Yonah
15. Cumberland Island
16. Chattooga River Section 0 - I
17. Chattooga River Section II - III
18. Chattooga River Section IV
19. Toccoa Falls
20. Brasstown Bald

Hard to go anywhere but down from this Natural Wonder of Georgia. Stay tuned until I burn out.