Loudon County High Point Trip Report
Date: June 14, 1999
Author: Andy Martin
This HP seemed pretty trivial on the map - just a 250' climb up the south slope
of Alexander Knob. However this one turned out to be a real stinker, with the
densest brush seen on the whole trip - some sort of 10 foot high re-growth with
blackberries and deadfall thrown in for good measure.
All the vegetation was saturated from the rain, so my jeans & T shirt got soaked
from the bush bashing. The umbrella did not do a lot of good, as it was tough
to use in all the brush. On the bright side, when I tripped I would never hit the ground,
with all the bushes holding me up, and the berries were tasty.
In any case eventually I reached the top, hopped up on some downed timber to get
a look around, and crawled around a bit looking for the BM and the tip top.
I never found the BM, and can't prove I got to the highest speck of dirt.
Somewhere in my wanderings I left off the TN list - good luck trying to find it.
It seemed a little more open to the west so I initially headed off that way,
but then started circling counterclockwise around the Knob. I overshot the
mark and ended up a bit east of the car, so had to hike back uphill to get to it.
Once there I stripped naked, threw the soggy mess in the trunk, got on dry clothes,
and bid a not so fond adieu to the hated Knob.