ATLANTA, Ga. — Got a good reason, for taking the easy way out now?
Tired of the scene your in and want to get out of town and be a Day Tripper?
There’s no big teaser like a great big city in the Southeastern United States, a place crammed with folks making a living on the promise of fun — and maybe a little sin.
Not unlike New Orleans, the city that got the attention of the world for being a capital of sin yet makes it hard to find when you get there, Atlanta too is such a place. But it is only a two-and-a-half to three hour drive from Birmingham, if you just need to get out of the sticks and into the trippy fray of things for a night or two.
An autumn view of the Lake Chinnabee campground with no one around (click on the image for a larger view)
Secret Vistas
by Glynn Wilson
LAKE CHINNABEE, Ala. — It drizzled rain in the dark all the way from the Oxford, Alabama exit off Interstate 20 through Munford on Highway 21, making it hard to find all the turns that lead to Lake Chinnabee in the Talladega National Forest. But somehow between a detailed atlas and the Google iPhone map, we found the turnoff at McElderry Road that led to Cheaha Road, which took us past Camp Mac and wound up into the mountains toward the highest point in Alabama at Cheaha State Park.
All the way there, photographer Kenny Walters and I had gone back and forth over whether we would find the place empty, or whether other knowledgeable campers would have found the place and staked out a position in the middle of the second week of November. I figured it was 60-40 the place would be deserted.
It was still drizzling when we pulled into the Lake Chinnabee campground on Wednesday evening at about 6:30 p.m. — and there was not another vehicle or camper in site. The place was deserted, just the way we like it.
Woke up this mornin’
Turned on the Mac.
Got the coffee started,
Then looked out the window.
The skies are gray,
Rain’s on the way.
It’s daylight savings time,
What can I say?
It is that time of year again, time to make the transition from the best of times, autumn, to the worst of times, winter. Although I must say with global warming these days, it is a toss up to say whether I don’t like summer or winter more. I am a spring and fall man all the way.
There is an 80 percent chance of rain Wednesday in Middle Alabamaland, and I would like nothing more than to just sleep through it all.
Alas, we have made plans to go camping again this week for one more chance to get outside in nature before the leaves all fall off the trees and turn the landscape brown.
So I will suck it up, pack the van and get out into the woods one more time before putting the canoe up for the winter. The skies should be clear and the weather cool over the next few days.
Besides, there is some good news in the headlines.
It is a ridiculously easy day trip from Birmingham and points to the northeast to visit Cheaha State Park, located at 2407 feet above sea level, Alabama’s highest point in the Appalachian Mountains.
The resort now has an arrowhead museum, which we feature in this video along with the view from the back deck at the restaurant.
It is called the Walter Farr Indian Artifacts Museum since the collection was donated by Walter Farr from Lineville. The grand opening was held on September 24, 2011.
Creek Indians named the place “Chaha,” meaning high place. Another native American name for it was “Sleeping Giant.”
This red-bellied woodpecker [melanerpes carolinus], close cousin to the northern flicker, also known as the yellow-hammer, the state bird of Alabama, stopped by for a meal atop a pine tree by our campsite Saturday afternoon in Cheaha State Park in the lower Campground No. 2 near Cheaha Lake.
While I was searching for a shot of the autumn color at Cheaha Lake on Saturday morning, three junior high cheerleaders spotted my big lens and came over to get their photo taken. Normally I would just send this to them for use on their Facebook pages, but this one turned out so good I figured it makes for a nice feature photo for a Sunday. I’ll add the names if they get in touch.
The WiFi connection at Cheaha State Park has been down for a couple of days, so sorry for the paltry updates this weekend. One more night and half-day off the grid in the Talladega National Forest and it’s back to the city on Tuesday. There’s some rain in the forecast, but I found an interesting place to launch the canoe. More photos and stories in a day or two.
BTW: My friend John came up with a new nickname for my 750mm Sigma lens: “Big, Black Moses.”
This is the view of Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama, in the Cheaha State Park from our campsite in Campground No. 2. There are the beginnings of autumn color here, mainly some reds in the dogwoods.
The winds were gusting so hard this morning there was no way to put the boat in the lake, so we found a more secluded site down lower and we’re checking the map for more photo opportunities this afternoon. The yellow-jackets are all over the place up here, so if you are allergic to bee stings, stay away. Otherwise, it is a nice fall day here on the mountaintop.
This foothill of the Appalachian Mountains rises 2,407 feet above sea level and is surrounded by the Talladega National Forest. The local Creek Indians named this place “Chaha,” meaning high place.
We have dubbed the ridge we are camping on, “Yellow-Jacket Ridge.” They really should do something about the bees. Too many to count.
CLOUDLAND CANYON – It now seems like nearly an eternity ago, at least in technology time, but about 12 years ago I came up with this idea for a magazine feature called Secret Vistas. Here is how I explained it then.
The Southland is rich in secret vistas — little-known places that touch the heart and stir the spirit. Secluded Gulf of Mexico beaches in the off season. Quiet Appalachian hiking trails and glistening streams thick with trout. Hidden forests with trees dating back to the time of Christopher Columbus. Pools and caves alive with the spirit of Cherokee medicine. Little-known views as stunning as anything in the North or West.
Sometimes it’s not just the setting, but the time or season making a scene special. Wild flowers in a meadow in spring. An albino fawn feeding streamside, spotted through the mists of a summer dawn. The Monarch butterfly migration on the Gulf Coast in late fall. A camp site in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a winter morning, with just a light dusting of snow, the clouds hanging low in the spruce fir.
You don’t go out looking for vistas that will haunt you forever, but sometimes you find them. Especially if you live or spend time in the South.
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
