An all day drive through clouds and rain brought my father and I to Georgia's highest point on a Friday. The clouds followed us all the way to the summit, and if anything they intensified. We pulled into the parking lot well before sunset and proceeded up the short, paved walk way to the top of Brasstown Bald. The walk offered no vistas, but wonderful fall colors.

The lookout tower from the stairway leading to the observation deck.

In a pattern that has continued from our last highpointing trip, we hit the fall colors at their height, but suffered under unrelenting clouds, which obstructed all views. Once we reached the end of the 1/2 mile trail and the visitor's center, we took a stroll around the observation deck. One of the rangers came over and tried to orient us, "What you don't see over there is Tennessee. What you don't see over there is South Carolina. . ."

We took in the short film on Brasstown Bald, more poetical or lyrical than documentary. However, the museum was fairly complete with the natural history of Brasstown Bald. Seeing the staff wanting to lock up and get home, we didn't bother them to unlock the USGS survey marker, but we did sign the guest book. Before heading back down we spotted the web cam in the tower and overheard some of the staff discuss how the tower was still in use for spotting forest fires.

Brasstown Bald sign with the visitor's center hidden the clouds.

After reaching the car, we drove down to Helen, GA to spend the night. Helen was a pleasant surprise; I wasn't expecting a lively resort town with a wealth of restaurants (we recommend the Troll Tavern). Helen was wrapping up its Oktoberfest celebration that runs from mid-September to early November. The next morning took us to South Carolina's Sassafras Mountain.

View of the cloud-obscured visitor's center.