July 17-18, 2004

July 2004 High- and Lowpointing Extravaganza

Traveling Companion: Boone
Vehicle: Boone's Toyota Avalon

Leg 1: Lowest Point in Illinois

The Confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
279 Feet

After attending the wedding of our friends Jeremy and Rebekah in Nashville on Friday night, I went out to Clarksville to stay at Boone's new apartment so we could get a head start on Saturday morning. On Saturday morning, we headed up I-24 to Metropolis, Illinois, home of Superman.

Then we went down to the very southern tip of Illinois, to Fort Defiance State Park, once called "The ugliest park in America" by the Chicago Tribune. That apparently spurred inprovement, but if so, I would hate to have seen it before. It doesn't look especially bad now, just very plain.

The lowest point is at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, which was kinda cool. We couldn't see a difference in color of the two, but I've heard that sometimes the color of the two rivers is different and there is a line down the river indicating how they don't flow together immediately. There was a noticable ripple demarcating the two rivers though. There were two guys fishing there and several barges.

Leg 2: Highest Point in Missouri

Taum Sauk
1,772 Feet

After passing through Cape Girardeau, Missouri, we headed up through the Ozarks to Taum Sauk, the highest point in Missouri. It's pretty easy to get to, with just a short hike from the parking lot to slab marking the summit, which is surrounded by trees. There is a mile long side trail to Mina Sauk Falls, the highest waterfall in Missouri--when it is flowing, which is not always the case, as we found out when we got there, but it was kinda cool to see a couple of small pools with a trickle flowing through where a waterfall would be.

As we were approaching the summit, Boone says, "I'm an idiot." When I inquired why this time, he told me that he forgot his sleeping bag. With the days highpointing done, we headed south to look for a place to camp. Eventually we settled on Crowley's Ridge State Park in northeast Arkansas. As we were setting up my tent, the bugs really liked Boone, and this coupled with the forgotten sleeping bag caused him to decide to sleep in the car. I don't think I've had a better night sleeping while camping, though.

Leg 3: Lowest Point in Missouri

St. Francis River at the Arkansas border
230 Feet

On Sunday morning, we (or at least I) woke up early and headed to the southwest corner of the Missouri Bootheel, and we were at the state's lowest point at 8:30 AM. It's pretty easy to get to, being at a small dirt boat launch. After the early morning lowpointing, we drove around to pick up a couple of counties that I hadn't been to and to give Boone a chance to sleep some more.

Leg 4: Failed attempt at the lowest point in Kentucky

Mississippi River at the Tennessee border
257 Feet

We crossed the Mississippi on I-155 at Dyersburg before turning north toward the lowest point in Kentucky. It requires driving about three miles through some farmer's field before getting out and walking through brush for a while. Not know exactly that we were in the right place, and with what we were treating as a trail becoming more marshy, we decided to turn back. I think it will be easier to get to in winter or from a boat.

There are actually two places where Kentucky borders Tennessee on the Mississippi River because of the little part of Kentucky that's pinched off from the rest of the state and surrounded mostly by Missouri, but only accessible by land from Tennessee. The lowest point is in this exclave. There appears to be only one paved road in it, and perhaps five or six farmhouses that we could see. We turned around at the intersection where the paved road turns left but has a dead end sign. Going straight was on a gravel road called Kentucky Bend Schoolhouse Road. This area seemed to be the perfect lawless area. Boone thought it would make a great place for a brothel whereas I was thinking more along the lines of it being the perfect place for a cult to buy up all the land for their compound.

Leg 5: The Journey Home

We headed back home stopping along the way at Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee's only natural lake, which was formed by a series of earthquakes that diverted the Mississippi River in 1811-12. Then we drove through a series of Tennessee towns named for places in Europe--Dresden, Paris, and Dover. In Paris, we saw their Eiffel Tower, but I didn't see any white cliffs in Dover. Since Paris and Dover are on opposite sides of the Tennessee River, I think a train tunnel should be dug under the river to connect them.