Stone Mountain

Yesterday I went to Stone Mountain, a granite monolith just east of Atlanta that is the centerpiece of a large park offering everything from gondola rides to the top of the mountain to golf to granitic slotation to hiking. A memorial to three Confederate leaders has been carved out of the granite. From left to right we see Jefferson Davis; Robert E. Lee; and Stonewall Jackson. The project began in the early 1920s under the direction of Gutzon Borglum; he dropped out of the enterprise after a short time and went on to carve Mount Rushmore. Other artists followed Borglum, but funding evaporated in 1928 and the mountain remained unfinished for over 30 years. Carving resumed in 1964 and the sculpture was finally finished in 1972. According to Wikipedia, the sculpture is the largest bas-relief in the world.

The sculptures are larger than they appear from ground level; they're about 90 feet high. The mountain itself rises to 1683 feet above sea level, 825 feet above the surrounding landscape. To me it bears a considerable resemblance to Ayers Rock (Uluru) in Australia, though it's gray instead of red and in a forested area instead of a desert. But like Uluru, Stone Mountain is a massive chunk of rock, standing alone.

This pic is from the back (south) side of the mountain, opposite the side with the carvings and the gondola. On November 20, the forest around Atlanta was in full fall color. It's pretty around here.