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Frozen Head State Park

Frozen Head Peak

February 14, 2004

According to the official state history of the park (pdf, local copy), "In May of 1933, Governor McAllister proclaimed a large part of the prison lands as Morgan State Forest to be managed by the Forestry Division. Shortly afterwards, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established on the Forest. Inasmuch as forest fires and trespass protection was of primary importance, a lookout tower was erected on Frozen Head Mountain. Fire control roads and trails were constructed, the boundaries surveyed and marked and a ranger's headquarters was built along Flat Fork Creek. The CCC camp disbanded in 1941 at the onset of W.W.II." Now, in addition to the lookout tower, also located atop the mountain are electrical equipment, communications towers and antennas.

A "TEMPORARILY CLOSED NO TRESPASSING" sign blocks the stairs to the top of the 60+ year old lookout tower. Fortunately, several pictures from the top of the tower are already available from other sites, such as the Morgan County Repeater Association, who maintain the repeater at the top of the tower.  Tom Dunigan's site also has one, and so does this UTK site. Granted, looking at pictures is not the same as being there; however, taking a look at the old wooden stairs, the rusty metal frame, and the height to the top of the tower should be enough to make someone think twice about climbing it just for fun.  

The three windmills at TVA's wind power plant on the ridge in the distance to the east were clearly visible through the leafless trees.  Notably, the air was still, and the windmills appeared to be not spinning for over 3 hours straight. 

Obligatory "I was there at the top, next to the razor wire and antenna" picture.  

I greatly appreciated and enjoyed using the tables from Tony Shreeve's 1999 Scout Project (sign below). A fire pit and a small amount of wood were also available. The peak is a designated campsite location, but I saw no source of water other than at Tub Spring, a half mile back down the mountain.

EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT 1999
TONY SHREEVE
TROOP 224 OAK RIDGE, TN
MATERIAL DONATED BY
84 LUMBER CO.

Oak Ridger Articles:
"Troop holds court of Honor," First Class Scout, March 7, 1997
"Troop 224 treks to Mount Rogers; Court of Honor held," Star Scout, March 26, 1999
"Locks of Love," April 13, 1999
 

Verizon cell phone signal was good at the top; however, I had no signal (driving back) from Armes Gap to nearly Oliver Springs. After a quick call home, and a snack of fruit, candy and water, I quickly headed back down to get to my car before sunset. The shadows were getting long, and most of the hike back to Armes Gap is on the east side of the mountain, so there was no time to waste. As Troy Cheek wrote about his hike to Frozen Head, "Water and jerky tastes like fine wine and beef mignon when you're hungry enough." Similar sentiment applies to water, fruit and candy when you're tired and hungry.  

Disclaimer: This is free information. Use at your own risk. This is only my opinion based on my experience. There is No guarantee of accuracy. I am Not responsible for anything that may happen to you because of using or not using this information.

Quote of the moment

The peace loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts which today are creating a state of international anarchy and instability from which there is no escape through mere isolation or neutrality.... When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), U.S. president. ed. Samuel I. Rosenman, The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 13 vols., New York (1938-1950). FDR Speaks authorized editions of speeches, 1933-1945 (recordings of Franklin Roosevelt’s public addresses), side 4, “Quarantine Speech” at Chicago, Illinois (Oct. 5, 1937), ed., Henry Steele Commager, Introduced by Eleanor Roosevelt, Washington Records, Inc. (1960). This was FDR’s famous speech in which he warned that the United States could not sit back and remain isolated from the “epidemic disease” of aggression. Despite support from 13 of the 16 major daily newspapers across the nation for some form of action, the President was unprepared to follow his statement with any prepared agenda for action at the time. He assumed that there would be an overwhelming negative press reaction and continued to merely warn Americans of the dangers the nation faced. ~

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