Brasstown Bald in the Snow
Asheville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN | Cherokee, NC Whispering Giant | Brasstown Bald | January 2023
After spending 5 full days in Asheville, it was time for us to move on. This also happened to be the day that a large snowstorm was coming across the mountains from Tennessee, and most of the high passes through the Smokys and Unicoi mountains were likely to get hit hard. Unfortunately, our next lodging choice was just on the other side of one of those high passes, and our planned route was to go right over.
But if we’re anything, it’s willing to change plans at a moment’s notice. We looked at our maps, checked at the weather, studied elevations, and consulted our list of interesting things to see and came up with a plan. We left Asheville to grey skies promising the forthcoming snow and went West on I-40 before getting off to follow US-19 towards Cherokee, NC at the base of the Smoky Mountains. We originally had planned a short waterfall hike right off the road, but we missed the sign and instead just enjoyed the drive. As the road climbed in elevation the scenery almost imperceptibly turned snowy until we were in that magical untouched winter wonderland that exists only right after a fresh snowfall. Undoubtedly the Blue Ridge Parkway would have been gorgeous, but also undoubtedly it would have been closed. The best part was that while the area surrounding the highway was covered in a layer of snow, the road was completely clear so we had no trouble driving.
As we descended down to Cherokee, the snow gradually disappeared and was soon replaced by a cold drizzle. In Cherokee we stopped at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian to see one of Peter Wolf Toth’s sculptures. This one is perhaps unique among the sculptures in that it is supposedly in the likeness of Sequoya, the Cherokee leader and inventor of the Cherokee alphabet. Also worth noting is that the statue is crying – a reference to the Trail of Tears, of which Sequoyah was a part. We picked up several other bits of Cherokee history, but we’ll save that for a later post.
From here we headed Southwest, avoiding the high passes. In Franklin, NC we stopped and walked along the banks of the Little Tennessee River so that I could take a work call before pushing further South into Northern Georgia. Here we navigated around Chatuge Lake and then climbed up into the Georgia Blue Ridge, aiming for the highest point: Brasstown Bald.
Of course, as one might have expected, with winter weather crossing the region, the entire summit of the mountain was engulfed in clouds. But it was neither pouring rain, nor was there snow on the ground, and since there’s a road almost to the top, we figured we’d grab the peak. After all, this isn’t the first time we’ve climbed a state high point without any view, and when would be in the area again (foreshadowing).
We parked the car near the summit – the only car in a rather large parking lot – then set off on the summit trail. It was a short trail, though a real heart pounder as we ascended the steep switchbacks, and before long the massive lookout tower came into view…and that turned out to be the only thing in view. Being offseason, the tower was closed, not that there would have been anything to see. We took our obligatory pictures, and then proceeded back to the car. Brasstown Bald actual has quite a bit of prominence (over 600 meters) and I’m sure the view on a clear day would have been extraordinary.
Once back at the car, it began precipitating a cold wintry mix, so we hastened our drive, crossing back into North Carolina, and finally into Tennessee where we ended in the town of Tellico Plains. We knew nothing of the town before finding a cute little cabin for rent for only $40/night, but a quick search showed us that we could find at least a week’s worth of hiking and exploring to do here, so we were excited to spend a week getting to know the area!
