GASTON
1690′
(#31/100 North Carolina county highpoints)
One of my very first mountain climbing adventures as a child was climbing Pinnacle Peak in the Cascade Mountains of Washington, so it was a delight to learn that the highpoint of Gaston County is “The Pinnacle.”
The Pinnacle in Gaston County is located in the very popular Crowders Mountain State Park.
Fortunately we are here in the off-season, and also mid-week. One of the benefits of being retired people!
The trail is well-maintained and well-marked for all those thousands of hikers.
There are helpful rock steps to gain the ridge, but eventually we have a short Class 2 scramble.
The view is splendid, but the actual highpoint is further on.
Until we find the pinnacle of The Pinnacle!
60 years of hiking and climbing, and it never ceases to thrill when you grab a summit!
(Even when you chicken out and find the granny route for the descent…)
And now for a little history
In 1971, the Gaston College Ecology Club (pictured above) learned that the private owner of this mountain area was preparing to sell it to a mining company. The company had recently finished strip-mining a similar area nearby in South Carolina for kyanite. [Currently a SuperFund site]
The students organized a protest, which coincided with the efforts of the Sierra Club and other conservation groups. The state was convinced to purchase the property and Crowders Mountain State Park was opened to the public in 1974.
My.Bird.Walks. 