Stan
Well-known member
This is the third of four hiking areas Erik and I visited on our month long road trip. The first two, Guadalupe and Big Bend National Parks, are on my essential list for any serious hiker, or any serious tourist for that matter. They are both part of a dramatic and desolate desert-mountain scene that is unlike anything we have in the Northeast. How anything or anyone survives here is part of it's fascination. The sight of these areas and the breath of dust kicked up by those unrelenting winds strikes a chord and gets my feet moving, sort of like the joyful noise out of a West Texas dance hall.
Lookout Mountain was not a destination, merely a stop on a route that took us through Chatanooga. It's main appeal is to those with an interest in the Civil War, for it was the battle for Chatanooga that sealed the ultimate fate of the South and it was Lookout Mountain that was the next to the last line of defense.
(The last line of defense was Missionary Ridge to the east, where a Union charge exceeded the expectations and the orders of the generals who watched with a mixture of shock and then amazement as their soldiers overran the retreating rebs. Leading this charge was a young soldier who recovered the flag from a fallen comrade and running up the hill with rifle, flag and exhortations to his company, easily overcame the Confederate resistence. This soldier survived the war, returned home with honors for his heroic deeds here and elsewhere, married and raised a son who attended West Point and became a commanding general in WW I ... a grandson followed that path and also became a general in WW II ... we are more familiar with his name, General Douglas MacArthur.)
Back at Lookout Mountain the battle was a lot quieter but not without it's heroes who, in this case, were six volunteers who scaled the palisades that formed a natural barrier on all sides of the mountain. Armed and again, carrying the flag, I doubt these young men carried much in the way of technical climbing gear. History suggests some approximate locations where they may have scaled the walls but, to me, searching for the possible routes from the trails below is what made the hike interesting. Upon their arrival at the summit, the climbers were surprised and relieved to learn that the enemy had retreated ... to Missionary Ridge.
Lookout Mountain is fully developed. A National Park occupies the summit and luxury homes dominate the plateau and the roads enroute. The trails, however, quickly escape that environment and lead to continuous vistas of the Tennessee River Valley below, largely developed but impressive nonetheless. We hiked one of the trails from the top down and at one point were able to take a side trail back to one of the summit roads and a road walk back to the Park center.
If you come to Lookout Mountain, forgive it for the lack of solitude or wildness. Come here instead to tread through a part of history and appreciate the accomplishments and the hostile setting to young men far from home ... and especially the "peak bagging" of those six volunteers.
Lookout Mountain was not a destination, merely a stop on a route that took us through Chatanooga. It's main appeal is to those with an interest in the Civil War, for it was the battle for Chatanooga that sealed the ultimate fate of the South and it was Lookout Mountain that was the next to the last line of defense.
(The last line of defense was Missionary Ridge to the east, where a Union charge exceeded the expectations and the orders of the generals who watched with a mixture of shock and then amazement as their soldiers overran the retreating rebs. Leading this charge was a young soldier who recovered the flag from a fallen comrade and running up the hill with rifle, flag and exhortations to his company, easily overcame the Confederate resistence. This soldier survived the war, returned home with honors for his heroic deeds here and elsewhere, married and raised a son who attended West Point and became a commanding general in WW I ... a grandson followed that path and also became a general in WW II ... we are more familiar with his name, General Douglas MacArthur.)
Back at Lookout Mountain the battle was a lot quieter but not without it's heroes who, in this case, were six volunteers who scaled the palisades that formed a natural barrier on all sides of the mountain. Armed and again, carrying the flag, I doubt these young men carried much in the way of technical climbing gear. History suggests some approximate locations where they may have scaled the walls but, to me, searching for the possible routes from the trails below is what made the hike interesting. Upon their arrival at the summit, the climbers were surprised and relieved to learn that the enemy had retreated ... to Missionary Ridge.
Lookout Mountain is fully developed. A National Park occupies the summit and luxury homes dominate the plateau and the roads enroute. The trails, however, quickly escape that environment and lead to continuous vistas of the Tennessee River Valley below, largely developed but impressive nonetheless. We hiked one of the trails from the top down and at one point were able to take a side trail back to one of the summit roads and a road walk back to the Park center.
If you come to Lookout Mountain, forgive it for the lack of solitude or wildness. Come here instead to tread through a part of history and appreciate the accomplishments and the hostile setting to young men far from home ... and especially the "peak bagging" of those six volunteers.
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