For years locals hiked to the top and spray painted their initials. It's jarring at first to see the abnormally colored rocks -- some say the mountaintop is even more scarred than when it was first mined decades ago. But both of those things are like the creases on a senior's face -- traces of who and what they've lived and can make what's not perfect even more beautiful. I like seeing the initials and wondering who is M + P, what is/was their story? Our place www.bit.ly/hiawassee is just a mile from the turn off to Bell Mountain, so we always send guests to the top because we know they will be as awed as we are even though our first visit was more than 30 years ago.

It no longer requires horse- or willpower to get to the top, it's completely driveable and a must-see.