Sassafras Mountain - South Carolina Highpoint
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We made our approach from North Carolina which, to my amusement, isn't at a whole lot lower elevation than the summit we were out to visit...
Making the turn onto the access road (which was pleasingly well-marked) at the quintessentially southern-named town of Rocky Bottom...
F. Van Clayton Memorial Highway
Heading up F. Van Clayton Memorial Highway... :)
Atop the ridge the road gets a little rougher, but no where near as bad as I expected...
Sassafras Mountain Parking Lot
The optimistically large parking area below the summit...
The guides I used didn't mention this overlook...what a nice surprise...
The "oh, wow" moment...
The view of the South Carolina Foothills...the 'clouds' in the distance are actually fog sitting over distant Lake Jocassee...
The stunning panorama from the overlook...
Sassafras Mountain Parking Lot
Now to actually tag the summit...
Foothills Trail @ Sassafras Mountain Parking Lot
The Foothills Trail passes right over the summit. This trail runs for 80-miles along the northern border of South Carolina...
The biggest danger on this hike was this HUGE widowmaker hanging right over the trailhead...
The crux of the climb...
Just below the summit the 'trail' splits...left goes to the top...
The official benchmark seemed a bit misplaced...I'm pretty sure the landscape is higher in the background...
Sassafras summit benchmark...
Sassafras Mountain summit...3,533'
Off the north end of the summit is a small viewpoint into North Carolina...
Yeah, well this had me appreciating the new overlook down below...the power lines killed it for me...
The 6,000-foot Blue Ridge rises 15-20 miles to the north...the main reason why this summit is so overlooked...nice to check off #19 though!!
