Wednesday, January 01, 2014
House Mountain 97-100th Hikes (published 1-1-2014)
Devil's Nose, 11-29-2013 Hike (published 1-1-2014)
Devil’s Nose, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, is the highest peak in the county. How it is named? I have heard two stories: from the east, the mountain looks like a crooked nose coming out of the ground. The other story is that someone got lost on the mountain and never returned. Someone asked, “Where is he?” The family answered, “Only the devil knows.”
The Appalachian Irishman has hiked Devil’s Nose since his high school days. The uncle of a friend owned property at the southwest base of the mountain. We boys would hike up “the Nose” from his property. Later owners still allow us to hike from the same property. In 2002, I began keeping record of my usual annual hikes up “the Nose.”
My 10th hike up Devil’s Nose, since 2002, was on 11/29/2013. The weather was cool and clear – almost perfect. If it had been a little cooler, as in 20F or so, the weather would have been perfect.
In recent years, only my youngest brother has been brave enough to venture up “the Nose” with me. The following are photos from our 11/29/2013 hike.
The first two are of my brother and me at what he calls “the Samson Rock.” This is a rock formation as we hike up the southwest side.
Lord willing, I want to hike Devil’s Nose every year, the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, as a memorial to my mother, whose birthday was on November 24th, 1932.