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Mount Mitchell, North Carolina
| El Dorado Hot Springs | | Jimbo | | El Dorado Hot Springs |
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | Mount Mitchell, North Carolina | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 04:50:29 GMT |
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[For private and club use only. Not to be reprinted or rebroadcast in mass
media without express permission of the authors. Copyright 2004-2005 El
Dorado Hot Springs. NUDISK]
Mount Mitchell
From the Blue Ridge Parkway North of Asheville, take the Mount
Mitchell exit and follow the signs. We wouldn't recommend taking
large RV's up the summit road. We saw one there and said a
silent prayer for them. The road is too narrow and twisting for
our tastes.
So HIGH was this high, it's UNrateable!
NATURALLY HIGH ON MOUNT MITCHELL
Have you ever heard of Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky
Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee? For over 150 years it was
believed to be the highest mountain East of the Mississippi, at
6,642 (later re-surveyed to 6,643) feet. In 1803, a man from
France named Michaud wrote a book in which he claimed that a
peak, later to be named Mt. Mitchell, in the Black Mountains of
North Carolina, near Asheville, was higher. He based his belief
on the types of vegetation that he found on the two peaks, using
no scientific instruments, and not naming a specific height.
Because of that, his theory was generally discounted, and
Clingman's Dome retained the title of the highest mountain East
of the Mississippi for a long time. Verily, Bill went there in
'59, and Camilla went in '66, and Tennessee was still billing it
as the highest in the East. Some road maps today (probably
published in Tennessee) still list Clingman's as the highest.
In the mid 1800's, a brilliant man named Elisha Mitchell, a Yale
graduate who became a Yale professor before the age of 23, [we
know this wasn't rare in those days] and who went on to be a
professor at The University of North Carolina, read Michaud's
theories and believed them. Mitchell, an avid mountain climber,
studied the same peak described by Michaud; using barometric
pressure readings to come to his conclusions, he temporarily
exploded Tennessee's balloon by announcing that the same peak,
which half a century earlier Michaud had claimed was higher than
Clingman's Dome, actually was 30' higher, at 6,672'. This was
great news and a great honor for the state of North Carolina.
The Governor immediately declared that the peak would be named
Mount Mitchell, its name to this day. A battle ensued between
North Carolina and Tennessee, one which was to last more than a
century. To further muddy the waters, a former student of Dr.
Mitchell, who, by mere coincidence, also had the surname
Clingman, soon claimed that another Black Mountain peak, not too
distant from Mt. Mitchell--each peak can be seen from the other
on most days--was 300' higher, and named it Clingman's Peak,
declaring it to be the highest point East of the Mississippi.
Trompant l'oeil conditions made it worse, yet, because each
peak, when viewed from the other, appeared to be higher.
For reasons which aren't known to us, such as, why weren't the
surveyors called in, this conflict went on for a long time and
Elisha Mitchell died on an expedition to the peak which bears
his name, trying to prove that it was the highest in the East.
He is entombed at the summit. And, after all his efforts, he was
correct. In fact he was even modest in his findings; after
modern technology was applied, it was found that Mt. Mitchell is
actually 6,684' high, 12 feet HIGHER than Elisha had believed,
and it is 41' higher than Clingman's Dome in Tennessee. As far a
Clingman's Peak, named after Mitchell's pompous former student
goes, forget it. He was more than 300' off; his peak is only
6,380' high, 263' lower than the peak in Tennessee, and 304'
lower than Mt. Mitchell, the highest point East of the
Mississippi River, named after his esteemed professor.
Because Mount Mitchell was so remote (no road went anywhere near
it until the late 40's), Mitchell and many after him bathed in
the nude in a pool below the picturesque waterfall that bears
his name. From the top of that waterfall, he fell to his death
during his last expedition to his beloved mountain.
Why are we telling you all this? Because we always like to give
you some background for our various Nomadings, and we ever
endeavor for it to be interesting reading. We were doing a 3 day
craft show in Asheville; we arrived 1 day early, on Thanksgiving.
Both of us have long been enchanted with the summits of
mountains, so we decided to go to see Mount Mitchell, since both
of us had thought that Clingman's Dome was the highest peak East
of the Mississippi, until we began our odyssey in '88 and
noticed, after studying maps to plan our routes of travel, that
Mount Mitchell was listed as the highest peak, though some maps
still listed Clingman's as such.
Several unpredictable conditions combined to make it a perfect
day for this mission; the weather was crystal clear (but cool).
It was a family holiday, so most were not out sightseeing. A
long stretch of The Blue Ridge Parkway was closed for tunnel
repair, severely limiting access to the road to Mount Mitchell,
and most important of all, we had the whole day off.
We went to the summit of Mount Mitchell and did a series of nude
photos! The air temperature in bright sunshine was 28 F., with a
wind chill factor of 10 above. There were, perhaps, a dozen
(well clad) folk about. Some must have seen us; none made any
notice or complaint. We didn't take a lot of photos,
understandably. We were PRAYING that just one would prove to be
of stellar quality; that didn't happen, but one was good enough
to be published in the 1992-1993 Winter Edition of "NATURALLY",
p. 36. It should have been captioned something like: "The
Ultimate Natural High, with The N & N Nomads!", "A Natural
High!", "An N&N High, Clothed With The Sun!", "At the top of the
Natural World, East of the Mississippi.", Nomads Get High,
Naturally", or "A Nude, Natural High!", etc. If you have that
edition of "NATURALLY", also check out our photos and stories on
p. 7, p. 19, p. 44; see 025PLAYAL, 106GLNDL, 114CLGRG, and
015SNSANDS
It was, by far, one of the most rewarding N experiences that
we've ever had. It was such a neat feeling. What a view! And
there's so much totally remote area and so many streams along
the Blue Ridge Parkway, we're sure even a lazy person could
easily find spots for Nuding; we didn't have time to look on
that trip, but we'll be looking on subsequent ones, for sure.
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| | From: | Jimbo | | Subject: | Re: Mount Mitchell, North Carolina | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 16:33:24 GMT |
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| Bill and Camilla-
Thanks so much for the reprint about one of my favorite places! I grew up
in Asheville and have been to the peak many, many times - as well as to the
two Clingman's . I have never been to Mitchell when it was deserted
enough to be nude (except back when I used to go there in the snow when the
parkway was closed - we would take trail bikes (motor) up there but it would
typically be wind chills well below zero. On those outings, just exposing
ones' private parts for a quick pee would invite frostbite!). That would
definitely be the extreme "high"! Of course, that was back in my mis-spent
youth, long before I discovered the freedom of a clothes-free lifestyle.
I would love to see the pictures from the trip, if they are still available
somewhere. It would be even more inspiration to re-create your adventure in
the not-too-distant future.
BTW, you are right about many places to enjoy nudity in the western NC mtns!
I certainly miss that, living in the "flatlands" of the state, where wild
lands are much harder to come by.
Jim
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| | From: | El Dorado Hot Springs | | Subject: | Re: Mount Mitchell, North Carolina | | Date: | Thu, 20 Jan 2005 02:50:53 GMT |
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Dear Jim,
Thanks for the kind words. We love the Asheville area too.
Yes, we had a lot of fun with that one. We still have a bunch of pix, but
they're buried somewhere. The best thing to do would be to find that issue
of The Event, later called Naturally, and now called Internaturally.
Bill
"Jimbo" wrote in message
news:oZvHd.26771$dt3.2633907@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> Bill and Camilla-
>
> Thanks so much for the reprint about one of my favorite places! I grew up
> in Asheville and have been to the peak many, many times - as well as to
the
> two Clingman's . I have never been to Mitchell when it was deserted
> enough to be nude (except back when I used to go there in the snow when
the
> parkway was closed - we would take trail bikes (motor) up there but it
would
> typically be wind chills well below zero. On those outings, just exposing
> ones' private parts for a quick pee would invite frostbite!). That would
> definitely be the extreme "high"! Of course, that was back in my
mis-spent
> youth, long before I discovered the freedom of a clothes-free lifestyle.
>
> I would love to see the pictures from the trip, if they are still
available
> somewhere. It would be even more inspiration to re-create your adventure
in
> the not-too-distant future.
>
> BTW, you are right about many places to enjoy nudity in the western NC
mtns!
> I certainly miss that, living in the "flatlands" of the state, where wild
> lands are much harder to come by.
>
> Jim
>
>
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