Frozen
Head State ParkCommon sense isn't.
Frozen
Head State Park
According to
the
official
state
history of the park (links at archive, pdf, local copy), "In May of 1933,
Governor McAllister proclaimed a large part of the prison lands as
Morgan State Forest to be managed by the Forestry Division. Shortly
afterwards, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was
established on the Forest. Inasmuch as forest fires and trespass
protection was of primary importance, a lookout tower was erected
on Frozen Head Mountain. Fire control roads and trails were
constructed, the boundaries surveyed and marked and a ranger's
headquarters was built along Flat Fork Creek. The CCC camp
disbanded in 1941 at the onset of W.W.II." Now, in addition to the
lookout tower, also located atop the mountain are electrical
equipment, communications towers and antennas.
A "TEMPORARILY CLOSED NO TRESPASSING" sign blocks the
stairs to the top of the 60+ year old lookout tower. Fortunately,
several pictures from the
top of the tower (still live in 2022!) are already available from other sites, such
as the
Morgan County Repeater Association (archive, 2004), who maintain the repeater at the
top of the tower. Tom Dunigan's site also has
one, and
so does this
UTK site (at archive). Granted, looking at pictures is not the same as being
there; however, taking a look at the old wooden stairs, the rusty
metal frame, and the height to the top of the tower should be
enough to make someone think twice about climbing it just for fun.
The three windmills at TVA's wind power plant on the ridge in the
distance to the east were clearly visible through the leafless
trees. Notably, the air was still, and the windmills appeared
to be not spinning for over 3 hours straight.
Obligatory "I was there at the top, next to the razor wire and
antenna" picture.
I
greatly appreciated and enjoyed using the tables from Tony
Shreeve's 1999 Scout Project (sign below). A fire pit and a small
amount of wood were also available. The peak is a designated
campsite location, but I saw no source of water other than at Tub
Spring, a half mile back down the mountain.
EAGLE SCOUT
PROJECT 1999Oak Ridger Articles:
"Troop holds court of Honor," First Class Scout,
March 7, 1997 (at archive)
"Troop 224 treks to Mount Rogers; Court of Honor held," Star Scout,
March 26, 1999 (at archive)
"Locks of Love,"
April 13, 1999 (at archive)
Verizon cell phone signal was good at the top;
however, I had no signal (driving back) from Armes Gap to nearly
Oliver Springs. After a quick call home, and a snack of fruit,
candy and water, I quickly headed back down to get to my car before
sunset. The shadows were getting long, and most of the hike back to
Armes Gap is on the east side of the mountain, so there was no time
to waste. As
Troy Cheek wrote (now at archive)
about his hike to Frozen Head, "Water and jerky tastes like fine
wine and beef mignon when you're hungry enough." Similar sentiment
applies to water, fruit and candy when you're tired and hungry.
| Quote of the moment |
| There were his young barbarians all at play; There was their Dacian mother: he, their sire, Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday! |
| ~ Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto iv. Stanza 141.; George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron. (1788-1824) ~ |
Common sense isn't.
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I last touched this page on Monday, 2022-11-07 at 01:54:24 UTC.