Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga

Location: Harrison Bay State Park; Harrison, Tennessee 

You can't stop at Chattanooga without going up to Lookout Mountain. And for anyone who has ever traveled through this area, I didn't "See Ruby Falls" or "Rock City". 

You can drive to the top of the mountain and park if you want, but what's the fun in that. There are some pretty nice houses on top of the mountain and some not so nice ones on the way up (you can see them from the train car). For me, the best way to the top is by way of the inclined railroad which has been in business since 1897. The price is $15.00 for the ride and $2.00 for parking. To avoid the high humidity that's been dogging me for the last week, I chose the first ride of the day which was a 9:00 a.m. train departure time. To reserve my spot, I had to buy a ticket online or I could wait and buy one at the station. I chose to crawl around in the web and try the online way. It worked pretty good but I couldn't open the attachment to the email they sent me confirming my purchase. Oh well, I guess I was half way successful and would have to talk to someone at the train station. I arrived at 8:45 and when I pulled into the parking lot, there was a travel bus with lots of people getting off. I knew from reading about the train, there were only two cars (one going up and one coming down) and each held 40 people. There were more than 40 people getting off that bus and I had reservations for the first trip. Oh, did I mention, they were all Amish, from Ohio. 

I talked to the young lady in the ticket booth and began explaining about not being able to open the ticket when she stopped me and said not a problem. I handed her my phone, she looked at it and printed my ticket. Hmm, I can add that to the list of the mysteries of the universe. I asked about the number of people in line ahead of me and she said there were 52 people in the group ahead of me so my car would leave at 9:10. Problem solved since there wasn't a problem. 

I went to the back of the line and struck up a conversation with the leader of the group. In his youth, he traveled around the country in a motorhome. We talked about the places we had both visited. It was a little surprising conversation, but nice. When my car got to the top, the 40 people that had just went up were in line to go back down. They came only to ride the train. 

I had been here before so I knew where to go. I left the train station and walked the 3 block to Point Park. It is part of the National Park Service so I got in for free with my senior pass. You can study the Civil War battle that was fought here, but I came strictly for the views, since I studied the battle on my last visit years ago. 

The car going up. You go up facing backwards and come down forwards.

This shows the importance of the "high ground".

Since Point Park is a military park, there is a nice monument in the middle commemorating both sides. On the top are bronze statues showing a Yankee and a Reb shaking hands.

The cannons sort of blend in with the trees and bench

Two cannons protecting the Tennessee River 1,500 feet below.

Part of the path leading to an outcropping. In the lower part of the picture is a few of the 24,562 steps. (a little exaggeration)

Some balanced rocks as you're approaching the view point.

Even on a hazy day, it is a "wow" view.

Walking down is easy, crawling back up, not so much. By then the humidity had reached near sauna level.

The view of the exit to the park. Yep, that is the Corps of Engineers symbol. 

As I was approaching the train station to go back down, I saw the car leave the station. I knew I had 15 minutes before the next one so I bought some water and cooled off in the A/C.

This gives an idea of the slope of the railroad tracks. 

Tomorrow is moving day and if I can get hitched up on the slope of the campsite, I'll be heading about 100 miles north to a TVA campground just before Knoxville, Tennessee. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe, I'll Cya down the road.