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10-1-06 Wayah Bald, NC |
Macon, Wayah Bald |
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Park: NAD27 351043.49 833345.26 +-18 |
Lookout: NAD27 351038.65 833347.81 +-16 |
We turned of 64 W at the first exit west of Franklin and went north onto Patton Road. Almost immediately, we veered left (west) onto Wayah Rd and continued on it until I saw a sign for Wayah Bald. We drove up a windy and often narrow gravel road taking in the beautifully green forest steeping descending down from the road edge to our left. Eventually, we reached the lookout tower parking area where we parked and walked to the lookout tower.
Nate was rather disappointed that the lookout tower was so short. I thought it was neat that they had a diagram designating the names of all the mountains on the horizon for each vantage point. I quickly spotted what I believed to be Whiteside Mountain in the distance and then studied the diagram to determine my correctness. It took Nate a minute to guess the correct mountain. You could see small patches of white on the side of the far away mountain.
We climbed up into the lookout tower, snapped a couple pictures and took in the view. We were really pretty high up. The mountain summit is 5,342 feet high. Both Nate and I wondered why they called this a bald since it really wasn’t bald at all. On our way back to the car, we read how the building had degenerated and been renovated over the years. It looked much cooler in the past. We got back in our vehicles and drove the very short distance to the summit, GPS: NAD27 351048.66 833339.08 +- 16, walked around the loop, and started back down.
On the way out we tried to visit Berties Falls but it either wasn’t a significant waterfall or it wasn’t very accessible from the road. Nate spotted a walking cave entrance on the side of the road not far from the falls but wasn’t able to signal me flashing his lights. I later told him that he should have honked. I drove back out to 64 and continued west passing vehicles whenever I could. I got stuck behind a few cars around the Ocoee river but finally pulled over to purchase $1.99 gas. Then I drove to Kimball.
Wayah Bald
Wayah Bald
Wayah Bald
Wayah Bald