(MS-LA-AR-) Missouri:Taum Sauk

The last stop on our trip was Missouri's Taum Sauk.

The trail is actually very short along a very nicely prepared path, and this is one of few highpoints that specifically brags about it's wheel chair accessibility.

The area is not much more than an hour from St Louis and even closer to the Mississippi river. The highpoint has a plaque on the ground and a boulder marking the spot which I made sure to climb for the feeling that at least a minor effort was exerted during the peak bagging...

Stats:
State: Missouri
High point: Taum Sauk
Elevation: 1 772 ft (540 m)
Date: November 27, 2011
Total elevation to date: 177 933 ft (54 234 m)
Access: Drive-up, short walk, handicap access
Difficulty rating (of 10): 1
Potential Difficulties: Essentially none, except that the look-out tower is not located at the high point but rather a couple of miles away.

(MS-LA-) Arkansas: Mt Magazine (-MO)

Arkansas' Magazine Mountain proved to be the highest and most "mountainy" on this trip. SO much that the weather changed severely when going towards the top with the car, extremely dense fog with barely 30ft (10 m) visibility quickly surrounded us and made way-finding very hard. It did slow us to a crawl in the car though so the chance of accidents was pretty much reduced.

The new state park lodge proved to be a blessing as we decided to stop there for lodging for the night and then hike in the morning instead.

The next morning revealed great views from our room, and the breakfast room seen above was gorgeous. The mosquito net on the windows makes the view look less impressive in the photo below however.

The hike was fairly short and we had no rain although temperatures were fairly low around the freezing point.

There was a limited view from the top of the mountain due to trees, but one could see the valleys below as well as a another peak which looked surprisingly close in elevation.

Stats:
State: Arkansas
High point: Mt Magazine
Elevation: 2 753 ft (839 m)
Date: November 27, 2011
Total elevation to date: 176 161  ft (53 694 m)
Access: hike, class 1
Difficulty rating (of 10): 2
Potential Difficulties: Finding the trail-head (fog!).

(MS-) Louisiana: Driskill Mountain (-AR-MO)

Louisiana's Driskill Mountain was located in the remote areas of the state where churches seem more common than people. Also houses not in the trailer home format are rare and far between...

The weather was not very cooperative, although we did have less heavy rain than what we drove through just half an hour before our hike. The problem though was the soil which consisted of very red clay like material which got very muddy and slippery (and discoloring) when walking in it.

Markus made sure to sign the ledger now that he had successfully doubles his highpoint count in USA (While protecting his backpack full of electronics under his jacket).

Stats:
State: Louisiana
High point: Driskill Mountain
Elevation: 535 ft (163 m)
Date: November 26, 2011
Total elevation to date: 173 408  ft (52 855 m)
Access: Hike, class 1
Difficulty rating (of 10): 1
Potential Difficulties: foul weather...

Missisippi: Woodall Mountain (-LA-AR-MO)

Missisippi's Woodall Mountain was the first stop on a 4-state highpointing spree during the Thanksgiving weekend. The trip also included a visit to Mammoth caves and 2400 miles on the prius odometer together with friend Markus.

Not too much excitement at the top (I was nevertheless very happy when reaching the top after a strenuous 3 ft - 0.9 m - vertical climb...), but it was surprisingly prominent considering the low elevation and the size of the state of Mississippi. Also it is very nicely located for driving hundreds of miles along the very nice Natchez Trace parkway which follows an old native amarican route. The highpoint itself is fairly well marked with signs, but the gps was reluctant to follow that route which cause some minor delays...

Stats:
State: Mississippi
High point: Woodall Mountain
Elevation: 806 ft (245.7 m)
Date: November 25, 2011
Total elevation to date: 172 873 ft (52 692 m)
Access: Drive-up
Difficulty rating (of 10): 2
Potential Difficulties: GPS finding non-existent roads...