The Rockpile

Best view is from river. The closest point from peak is taking a rough dirt road about 100 meters for unphotographic view. There is also a near temple at base of mountain. No access to top where the actual army/ marine base was.

Historically important location. We tried to fully drive around it but we're unable to. Very beautiful area!

US Army used the Rockpipe to observe Highway 9 & HCM trailway

On top of this moutain was a small house (base) of US military before, once you was on the top it was an spectacular view, an historical place. There was no normal way to went to this base, the only way to go there is using helicopter. Professional rock climbing will climb and change the flag every few year.

Not much to see but if you know the history it’s an incredible sight. Try and picture what happened when your there. It takes about 5 hours to hike but it’s not an easy one and you will have cut hands etc

There always seemed to be a part of me that felt it should have been left as a global heritage site and undeveloped. Perhaps selfish and unrealistic on my part, but future generations should have been able to see what it was like during the 1960s. I feel that way about many places on our planet. These are very important places. Not so much for what humans have done, but as a reminder that we do not have to do them at all.

The combat started with bombing and napalm strikes on potential future landing zone sites in mid-July 1966. The initial helicopter assault of Operation Hastings was disastrous as two transport helicopters collided and crashed. By the end of the day 15 Marines were dead with a further 10 soldiers injured; however, Operation Hastings was an overall success. By the operation's end on 3 August 1966 the United States had accounted for at least 824 confirmed NVA soldiers killed and 214 captured weapons compared to the 126 Marines killed and 448 wounded. The Rockpile officially came under the control of American troops by the end of July 1966 when a small observation team landed on the summit. The NVA immediately attempted to remove the Marines from their defensive position, but several attempts at scaling the Rockpile and striking the top and sides with mortar rounds proved ineffective. Operation Prairie swung the momentum for the mountain's fight after waves of Marines stormed into the area to reinforce the troops around the Rockpile and fortify its defenses. From then on the Rockpile was often manned by at least a squad of United States Marines, who received supply drops by helicopters and would go on to launch numerous operations from the base of the mountain. * Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Above the fog line, scary at night. Sleep with Mother Earth mattress, always ready for action.