Oops. I almost forgot. There are two listed explanations for the name Blanket Mountain. The first one centers around an 1802 survey and our old friend Return Jonathan Meigs. See my June 21, 2011, account of Meigs Creek Trail for the interesting story of his unique name. Ol’ RJ tied a brightly colored blanket to a tall tree on the mountain’s top for a surveyor on an adjacent peak to use as a site point.
The second explanation claims the name is a result of Native Americans using the peak to send smoke signals with a fire and blanket. HA! I don’t believe this trite, stereotypical, Hollywood bull for a second, but I sure can picture RJ shimmying up a tree with a colorful blanket in his hands.
