The Unakas Die in the Unicois
The Unakas have spent their
strength in the outburst which result
in the Great Smokies, but they do not
immediately betray this weakness as
they resume beyond the Little Ten¬
nessee. with the Unieois. This is per¬
haps the least known, least visited of
all our ranges, providing for several
miles the southwestern border with
Tennessee, and terminating the long
Unakas.
On the crest just below the Little
Tennessee River is Stratton Bald, a
5.400-foot mountain. A little north of
here. Hangover Lead, tipped with
Hangover Mountain, runs parallel
north and south with the divide, reach¬
ing a height of 5.200 feet. This moun¬
tain is named for the projecting cliff
which abruptly ends it.
The crest runs almost due south, ris¬
ing noticeably to 5.472 feet in Haw
Knob.
The dominating peak in the whole
Unicoi range is virtually unknown.
It is Huckleberry Knob (sometimes
Huckleberry Top) standing just east
of the state line at an altitude of 5.580
feet, with a companion (Little Huckle¬
berry) 5.400.
But the Unicois are through. At
Laurel Top they throw out the long,
serpentine transverse range of the
Snowbirds, and then themselves swing
almost due west. Never again will they
reach 5,000 feet above sea level.
With Wauchcesi Bald, which is over
the line in Tennessee, the Unicois
leave North Carolina, move south¬
westerly into Tennessee, and fade out
in the Little Frog Mountains.
As the Unicois turn westward, the
state line runs straight to the Georgia
border, as your highway map shows.
The plunge of the line here gave rise
to the quaint story that the boundary
commissioners, running out of whis¬
key. abandoned the crest of the moun¬
tains and made a beeline for the
nearest still. There is no natural barrier
on the slate line from Unicoi Gap
south to Georgia though a few scat¬
tered mountains are in the vicinity,
including Pack and Angelico, both rel¬
atively minor ridges. Pack reaches an
extreme height of 3,499 feet.
It is the northern end of the Unicois
that offer the most interest to the va¬
cationist. Here the range is broad, hurl¬
ing large ridges almost at right angles
toward the cast, with the rough coun¬
Louking toward the Ncwfounds from the east, and below, the Pisgah I-cdgc,
with Ml. Pisgah topping the scene. — (Photos by Elliott Lyman Fisher.)
try going down to the lake and to
Chcoah River. Much of it is in pos¬
session of wild boar and bear and cut¬
over timber land.
Hooper’s Bald
These off-shoots from the divide in¬
clude not only Hangover and Stratton,
but fabled Hooper's Bald. 5.429 feet,
which may be reached by a jeep from
Robbinsville (inquire locally). It was
on this bald that the eccentric George
Moore had his hunting lodge and his
preserve of buffalo, boar. elk. bear.
It is still the wild boar center of the
south. (See State, Sept. 27. 1952.)
I he Unicois are most conveniently
invaded over U.S. 129 from Rob¬
binsville, and by Nantahala Forest
roads leading therefrom. Heading west
on U.S. 129 beyond Robbinsville the
Unicois and their creatures arc on your
left, but the road is so deep in the
gorge of the Chcoah River that few
views of them are obtainable.
You go into their depths in Joyce
Kilmer Memorial Forest, a virgin for¬
est forever set aside as an axcless area.
The Forest Service maintains a recre¬
ation area here, and there arc trails
and good fishing. It may be reached
by a road from Robbinsville leading
around the south shores of Lake San-
THE STATE. May 30. 1953
27
