“Momma, I’m gonna take a little hike up the mountain if you don’t mind. OK?”

“Are goin’ by yourself?”

“Yes maam. I’m only goin’ where I’ve been before.”

“All right, but be careful.”

“I’ll be back by supper time.”

I go straight up the mountainside. I wish there were a better trail. That’s OK. It’s steep but I’ll make it. Kind of slick here. There’s a root I can grab onto. I must’ve come up a thousand feet by now. Oh well, I’m half way to the top. Stop and rest for a minute. Good, there’s some huckleberries. They taste pretty good. Well, press on. Path’s kind of rocky ahead. Not so steep now, must be near the top. Ah, there’s the crest trail; I made it.

This is a pretty nice trail. I’ll bet the CCC made it or at least improved it. I’ll walk out toward the chained rock. Feels nice up here, cooler, a little breeze. Helps dry off the sweat I worked up. I see a big rock ahead, think it’s the one they call Turtle Back. Yep. Strange looking. Shaped like a turtle all right, a mighty big turtle. Looks like it was etched, leaving plateaus of rock all over it. Wonder what caused that kind of erosion. Down the trail a way is the overhanging rock that my buddy Jimmy and I slept under that night. Still sandy under the rock.

Some massive boulders just ahead. The biggest one is mostly buried, but it looks like a couple of acres exposed as bare rock. One boulder protrudes out over the valley below. That’s the chained rock. Some clever politician must have thought up that scheme. Has to be big enough to be seen from the town. Wonder how many mules it took to drag that fifty-foot long chain up here. It’s attached to the rock by just a steel rod driven into the rock. But I didn’t come up here to inspect the chain; I came to smell the woods, to hear a bird sing, to feel the breeze and to enjoy the scenery. I’m gonna sit down and do all these things now for a little while, then I’ll head back to civilization and supper. This solitary hike has sharpened my appetite.

Link to information about Pine Mountain and the CCC