One of the reasons I went back to the northeast corner of the state for my Summer road trip was the nonexistent view from Brasstown Bald during my visit there last year. It was so socked in with clouds and fog that you could barely see the fire tower from museum at the visitors center on the summit.

This year, I added Black Rock Mountain in northeast Georgia to my list of places to visit. On my first visits to Black Rock Mountain and Brasstown Bald, the weather was a bit more cooperative, but there still wasn’t much to see except clouds. I tried again toward the end of the road trip when the weather was better and finally lucked out and had some wonderful views from both mountains.

The first mountain I visited this year was Black Rock Mountain in Black Rock Mountain State Park near Mountain City, GA in the far northeast corner of the state. The first day I visited was Tuesday (the first slideshow below), the same day I got rained on at the Foxfire Museum and Tallulah Gorge State Park. Conditions were predictably overcast and I couldn’t see a thing from any of the mountain overlooks. On Thursday (the second slideshow below), the weather was much better and after visiting the Hardman Farm State Historic Site and Brasstown Bald, I drove back over to Black Rock Mountain and was not disappointed. The view from the mountain overlooks up to 3,640 ft was spectacular: lush verdant mountains and valleys of so many different shades of green.

Radio Note: There are two amateur radio repeaters located on Black Rock Mountain, the 147.120 and the 443.150. Both repeaters are multimode and are capable of Analog, DMR, and P25. On DMR, use Color Code 1, Slot 1, Talkgroup; traffic is local only as the repeaters are not connected to the internet. The repeaters have excellent coverage in the Clayton/Mountain City areas and beyond.

On Wednesday (the first slide show below), the weather wasn’t much better than Tuesday was, but after visiting the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, I went to Brasstown Bald near Hiawassee in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest to see what the conditions were. Visibility was better than it was in 2021 – I could just see some landscape through the clouds at the summit. The weather on Thursday was much better (the second slideshow below), so my second stop of the day was again Brasstown Bald. This time, the view was spectacular, even better than the view from Black Rock Mountain. The cloud deck was above Brasstown Bald’s summit, so I could see the mountains and landscape of multiple hues of greens and blues stretch out over four states from the 4.784 ft summit.

Radio Note: During the road trip, I got a hit on 170.4625 (PL 127.3), which I think is the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest repeater located on Brasstown Bald; I’m guessing it’s one of the antennas on or around the Fire Tower on top of Brasstown Bald (the last photo in the slideshow above).

It may have taken me three visits to see the world from Brasstown Bald and two visits to see the world from Black Rock Mountain, but I’m glad I kept on going because the views were worth it. The views are majestic; they make you feel small and impress the magnificence and scope of nature among you.