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| Cheaha State Park near Pulpit Rock |
Soon after Tim and I married, he was transferred to Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama, for a six-month stint at the military police academy there. It was our first introduction to living in the South where the Civil War is still called by some, The War of Northern Aggression. Somehow in those six months, we never realized that just a short twenty miles away was Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in the state of Alabama.
When plotting our route back to the farm for fall harvest, I googled "top tourist attractions in Alabama" and Cheaha State Park popped up. Online photos of the park were stunning.
Learning that the park had both a hotel and a restaurant, I quickly made reservations for a three-night stay.
Twice we missed turns as we made our way to the park. To say that it is off the beaten path is a true assessment. But it was worth it to finally reach the summit where the vista unrolls for miles and miles.
During our stay we practically had the park to ourselves. In fact, one evening we dined alone in the restaurant with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Questioning our young waitress, she told us in her sweet Southern accent that while business was slow now that children are back in school, the park will be flooded with leaf-peepers come fall. Oh, how I wish we could be here then!
Ever on the prowl for waterfalls, I persuaded Tim to hike to Cheaha Falls with me. This three-tiered cascade flows over a rock face located three miles into the Talledega Forest. It's a beautiful place.
Another day we hiked a few miles of the Pinhoti Trail which stretches 171 miles across Alabama (and another 100 miles through the mountains of northern Georgia) before it connects to the Appalachian Trail. The section we crossed was a narrow tract overgrown with brush, not as well maintained as I'd hoped. Tim's reconstructed knee was aching by the time we returned to the car.
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| Pulpit Rock |
So I left him behind at the hotel while I made the pilgrimage to Pulpit Rock. Wow! The vista seen from that outcropping of rock was amazing. Well worth the effort, despite the fact that I missed the trail blaze on the way back and had to backtrack for a time to find it.
All of that, however, could not compare with the magnificent sunsets for which we had ringside seats.
On the last day of our stay we drove to Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, the scene of the end of the Creek Indian War.
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| Chief Menawa |
There on March 27, 1814, Tennessee militia under the command of General Andrew Jackson massacred 1,000 Red Stick Creek Indians led by Chief Menawa.
The Creeks hoped the protection of the river bend on the Tallapoosa River and a log barricade across the neck of the peninsula would suffice to save them, but Jackson sent Brigadier General John Coffee and his troop of 700 infantry to surround the bend across the river from where the Creeks were camped.
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| White posts tell the approximate location of the barricade. |
Then Jackson ordered a frontal assault on the wooden barricade.
At the end of the day, at least 800 of Chief Menawa's men were dead. The peace treaty following the battle added 23 million acres of Creek land to the southeastern United States--roughly three-fifths of Alabama and one-fifth the state of Georgia.
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| General Andrew Jackson |
For Andrew Jackson, the victory at Horseshoe Bend was the first step on the road to national fame and the White House.
Likewise, Cheaha State Park was our first step on the road back to the farm for fall harvest. I'm thankful I had a second chance to find this beautiful place.
