State Highpoints Numbers 7 & 8:



MISSISSIPPI (7)

Date: Sunday, November 7, 1999
Peak: Woodall Mountain
Height: 806 feet
Vertical Climb: 0 feet
Round-trip Mileage: 0 miles
Peak Class: #1
Height Rank: #47 of 50
Difficulty Rank: #48 of 50


Drove toward Mississippi, found a motel and spent the night then woke around 6:00 and left the motel at 6:40. Took Hwy 72 west and it was real cold but not freezing. At 7:05 entered Mississippi. At Ioka turned left on Hwy 25 and immediately found a sign pointing me to the Woodall Mountain peak. Followed the road and took a right on County Road 176. Wandered around the top of the mountain and couldn’t find any more markers. Stopped and asked a guy in overalls but he didn’t know where I was trying to go. He did say there was a road marked up to the radio towers. His house was covered with license plates, road signs and a huge Confederate flag. I would have taken a picture but I didn’t know how he’d react to it. I’m not sure the license plates and signs were for effect---they may have actually been the siding for the house. After driving around some more, I went back down the mountain and did find a gravel road leading toward the towers. Followed it up and found the peak and summit marker at 8:10.
It is another absolutely beautiful day---sunny and clear skies. The summit was a circle and had a concrete picnic table that was trashed out and someone had built a fire on top of it. There were bottles, cans and trash everywhere. I shot some pictures and walked around. Played with the Magellan a little bit and figured out a little more about it. The location readings are amazingly accurate. The view was limited but this is one of the lowest peaks in the United States. This is very isolated and the people who live around the mountaintop are pretty poor but the area is kind of pretty. The summit had pine trees and other trees---some of which were red and yellow leaves.

ARKANSAS (8)
Date: Sunday, November 7, 1999
Peak: Mount Magazine (Signal Hill)
Height: 2,753 feet
Vertical Climb: 150 feet
Round-trip Mileage: 1 mile
Peak Class: #2
Height Rank: #34 of 50
Difficulty Rank: #28 of 50

Made it through Little Rock in good shape and continued on through Conway and Morrilton to Russellville and turned south and drove up to Mt. Nebo State Park. Saw a very large tarantula on the road---didn’t realize they lived as far north as Arkansas. My cabin wasn’t ready so I walked around a little and started to hike a trail but decided to cancel the cabin and continue on. Mt. Nebo was neat but not as nice as Petit Jean or Mena. A bank sign stated 79 degrees.
Cancelled my reservation and the ranger gave me good directions to Signal Hill Peak. The drive took almost an hour and at Havana I started a twelve-mile drive up Magazine Mountain. I was following a park ranger and when he stopped I got directions from him. The park is not open yet and is still under construction.
Found the Cameron Bluff campground which was an old campground being upgraded and closed due to construction. Loaded my backpack and wandered through the campground looking for the Signal Hill trailhead. Found a trail and followed it for about a mile but it was the Petit River overlook trail.
Returned to the truck and discovered the trailhead was directly behind where I had parked. Felt kind of like a fool. Hiked the ¼ mile up the mountain and found the summit. Was taking my camera out when a guy walked up behind me and kind of scared me. He was ok, though, and left after just glancing around. I took some pictures and played with the Magellan a while and then just sat and ate some crackers and drank a bottle of water. The sun was going down and it was one of those pastel pink and purple layered sunsets and was just awe inspiring and beautiful.
I made the ½ mile easy to moderate hike in less than twenty minutes. It was dusk and the sun was behind the mountains when I got back to the truck. At 5:15 drove over to where the old lodge had been built in 1938 by the CCC and burned down in 1971. It was a rock foundation site and really on a beautiful overlook. By the time I left it was almost completely dark. This was my second peak today and eighth overall. There is something special about being on them as the sun is setting---I also did it in South Carolina.