David

This point is obviously on private property. As the above panorama shows, this summit is covered with towers and buildings. Thanks to fellow highpointers, an agreement has been reached with the Penn Valley Coal Company to allow access by simply signing and submitting a liability waiver. While the state and highpointing advocates have all worked to help retain the summit and to make it publicly accessible (the state paid $4 million for timber and mineral right to keep the company from strip mining it), I also appreciate the coal company's ultimate willingness to agree to such a simple procedure for gaining access.

Lest you not plan to take the waiver conditions seriously, the buildings at the summit are speckled with signs reminding you the coal company takes the liability issue seriously.

However, the most interesting sign has to be the one below the summit by the FAA radar facility. It must have been written by a committee. The wording doesn't seem to adequately convey the potential risks that may result from interfering with the facility. "This facility is used in FAA air traffic control. Loss of human life may result from service interruption." How about, "Planes may fall out of the sky. Don't even dream of messing with this facility!" I hope the the FAA does at least as much video taping as the coal company claims to be doing.

The toughest part of finding the turn off from the highway is that my detailed map showed the road joining the highway on the south side just west of the Kentucky/Virginia state line. Surprise! As I turned the hairpin curve and saw the Kentucky state sign, I also saw that the south side of the road was simply a steep cliff going down. After finding a place to turn around about a quarter mile beyond, I returned to the hairpin curve to discover the turn off is located between the Kentucky and Virginia state signs, cutting back (east?) away from the cliff.

After reaching this high point, I decided to actually visit a town in Kentucky before returning to Virginia to tackle another highpoint the next morning. The little town of Lynch, located at the bottom of the mountain range, is the first town on this route into Kentucky. Although very small now (population about 900; the Miner's Market appeared to be the only local gas station, convenience store, or restaurant), it once had a population of more than 10,000. Founded in 1917, for a time it was the world's largest coal camp, with coal production exceeding 500 tons an hour at times.