Satulah Mountain towers over Highlands from the south, is home to
many grand residences, and offers fantastic vistas. It’s a
great place for a picnic or to view a sunset; you might want to
also consider the “Satulah Mountain Cache” while in
this area.
This cache requires that you locate a stone marker atop Satulah
Mountain and use information on the sign to determine the location
of the final cache. The coordinates above will take you to the
marker. The final cache is less than 50 yards from this marker. You
are looking for a large lock-n-lock containing ordinary trading
items.
The top of Satulah is under the stewardship of the Highlands
Land Trust and is open to the public. In route to the top you'll
notes some "private road" signs but easement is allowed for access
to the HLT land. The HLT recently completed a parking lot near the
summit to make access easier (see coordinates, below.) This cache
has been placed with the permission of the HLT.
To reach this parking area from the main intersection in
downtown Highlands, head south on Hwy 28 for three blocks until it
takes a sharp right turn; do not take this turn, but instead
proceed straight through the yield sign at the intersection (past
the Old Edwards condominiums) and through the stone markers
denoting the Satulah Historic District. Continue to drive up this
road, following the route that continues to climb up (do not turn
right onto Worley Rd). You'll know you're getting close when you
see the water tower.
The hike from the parking lot to the stone marker is
approximately a quarter of a mile, with an elevation change of less
than 100 feet. Upon locating the stone marker, you will note a
four-digit number; use these digits to provide the solution to the
final cache’s location as follows:
- N 35º 02.ABC
- W 083º 11.DEF
- A = 2nd digit less the 4th digit
- B = 1st digit less the 3rd digit
- C = one-half of the 1st digit
- D = 2nd digit
- E = 1st digit plus 3nd digit, less 2nd digit
- F = 4th digit
And now for the history lesson; as you proceed from the stone
marker to the final cache location you will pass by an interesting
historical site, the remnants of a small stone cabin, built into
the hillside, with a great western view. This cabin dates to
approximately 1909, when the top of Satulah was acquired for $500
by the Highlands Improvement Society and dedicated as a public park
into perpetuity. This organization would be the forerunner of the
HLT, the first land trust organization in NC.
The Society intended the cabin to be used as a stone shelter house
"for the benefit and protection of those who desire to spend the
night on the summit for the purpose of beholding the beauties of
the sunset, of the starlit heavens, and the glories of the
sunrise"; [NOTE THAT THE CACHE IS NOT LOCATED ON, IN, UNDER OR NEAR
THE SHELTER HOUSE – FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE THE SITE (it can be
entered at ground level on the North side) BUT PLEASE DO NOT
DISTURB THE STRUCTURE IN ANY WAY.] Professor Thomas G. Harbison,
Harvard botanist, founder of the Highlands Academy in 1887, and
early civic leader, looked in pride at the acquisition on Satulah,
exclaiming that the summit “is OURS, ours to keep forever. No
money grubbing skinflint without any soul can ever acquire this top
and then put up a toll gate to charge admission to what he the same
as stole from God. I mean just what I say. No man has a right or
can acquire a right to charge his fellow man toll to visit the tops
of God’s mountains.” (Thanks to, and for more
information see, Randolph P. Shaffner's "The Heart of the Blue
Ridge – Highlands, North Carolina", Faraway Publishing,
2001.)
The shelter on Satulah
So, enjoy your visit to Satulah’s summit, and reflect on
the foresight of people who protected the area for all our
enjoyment.
FTF
honors go to crowehunter, oldcrowes, and
family!