Vacation Stories

[daverbee]

Post stories from your vacations here.
I'll start.
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Got into NC aroud 4:30 on the 9th and did my grocery shopping for the week. Met my brother-in-law at the house and we had dinner together at Maggie's Galley in Waynesville. Good seafood restaurant and not anywhere near the ocean!
Got up next morning and headed into Pisgah National Forest to hike up Looking Glass Rock. It's made of rock that was formed by underground volcanic activity and showed it's face after the softer rock that covered it eroded away. It's a very prominent feature when viewed from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I had always been a bit intimidated by the walk as the maps all show it as a steep hike. There is one section in which you have to go up a long succession ofswitchbacks in the trail in order to make the walk less steep.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that even the parts of the trail that did not have the benefit of switchbacks were not that steep. The hike is about two miles to the summit overlook at about 3800 feet. There were a lot of people on the trail and I don't think I was alone for more than five minutes at a time.
Among the more interesting things along the trail were many low growing wildflowers. Most notably trailing arbutus which is kind of a harbinger of Spring in the Smokies. You also pass a helicopter landing pad very near the top. The Forest Service uses it for rescues off the mountain.
I also found that one of the side trails to an overlook had been closed because a Peregrine Falcon pair were nesting there. Saw many, many hawk doing thermals around the overlook, but saw no falcon.
The view was magnificent! Clear views of the ridge the Blue Ridge Parkway follows. There were a lot pf people who had reached the summit beore me. Met a nice couple from Germany and their friend and had a nice talk with them about some of the things you can see from the overlook. Also met a father and son rock climbing duo who had taken the hard way up and planned on rapelling back down and doing the whole thing again!
After coming back down I wanted to visit Moore's Cove Falls which is nearby, but the parking area by the trailhead was totally full so I decided to go up on the Parkway.
The trailhead parking for Skinny Dip Falls and the Graveyard Fields area were full as well, so I went into the Black Balsam Knob area which isn't as well known and so was less populated.
Did a nice hike around Sam Knob on the Flat Laurel Creek trail, intending on visiting Flat Laurel Creek Falls. Turns out you need to do a steep scramble down to the falls, and as I was alone, I didn't want to risk injury. You can see the falls from the trail and it looks impressive, but I'll have to have someone with me to get a close look.
Had some bad news on the way back to the parking area. A group who were out for a day hike had lost their dog and were desperately trying to find him. Got a description and kept a lookout on the way back but never saw him. Let this be a lesson...leash your dogs in the wilderness!
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Forest Service had opened a trail to the summit of Sam Knob and so decided to climb up the next day. A story that will have to wait until tomorrow!

[Frieda]

oooooh exciting! more! more!

[sparticle]

Oh, how great! Can't wait for the next installment!

[catbelly]

Daverbeeeeeeeee sounds like a great time ... waiting for more so I can live vicariously through you!

[Avalon]

Originally posted by catbelly
Daverbeeeeeeeee sounds like a great time ... waiting for more so I can live vicariously through you!

Many of us are living vicariously thru you..bring on the photos so we can see what we..saw

Love your story..please, continue

[Audreyvgs]

Isn't Maggie's Galley where you get the fried chicken?

sounds pretty

[priceyfatprude]

This one time, at band camp...

[Audreyvgs]

hahahaahahaaaaa

[daverbee]

Aud, you might be thinking of Granny's Chicken Palace in Lake Junaluska. Best fried chicken in the world!
Will post more later and will post photos when I have a chance.

[Spicy Jack]

Let this be a lesson...leash your dogs in the wilderness!

Old people too. We lost our grandpa for 4 days. Its been 6 months since the "incident" and I haven't been the same since. bleh.

Never go anywhere alone.

Daverbee- do you ever go geocaching?

[catbelly]

One time we were on holiday and lost our grandpa, turns out he was over by the bandstand watching the bikini contest.

[daverbee]

My map and compass skills aren't quite sophisticated enough for geocaching and I don't own a GPS so I haven't tried anything like that yet. Most of the places I hike up there are in deep valleys and a GPS is more or less useless. This trip last week was my first at peak bagging.

And now...

Chapter Two

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Got up Sunday morning and found my brother-in-law already getting everything ready for the carpet installers for Tuesday. I didn't really want to get involved in a lot of work since I had come up for a vacation and planned on taking Tuesday off so I could let the carpet guys and the building inspector in anyway, so I packed a lunch and headed out the door.
As I said, I had discovered that the Forest Service had cut a trail to the top of Sam Knob, and since it's a good place to get a view of the surrounding area, I decided to give it a try.
Sam Knob is a mountain often described as a Bald in WNC. There are no trees on top of a bald and precious little in the way of any ground plants. Most are rock on top. This in spite of being well below the tree line you hear about on mountains higher than 10,000 feet.
The trail was well traveled so lots of people have heard about it, and all before me! I got to the trailhead kind of early and found nobody at the parking area and only a couple of cars left by backpackers.
The trail circles around a small hill and leads out into a field the Forest Service is using as an experiment in wildlife reclamation. They're hoping to attract more deer to the area so have seeded this field with plants that the deer like to feed on.
After about a quarter mile, the trail reaches the foot of Sam Knob and begins a climb through more switchbacks. At no time did I feel as if the hike was steep but you get a good look out into the field you just left so you can see that you're obviously ascending and quite steadily. It alternates between views of the field and groves of rhododendron. My guess is that about the end of May it must be a beautiful place to hike through but no rhodos were in bloom when I was there.
Eventually, the trail comes out onto the top and you have a choice of two side trails each going to the twin summits. I chose the North summit as it's a few feet higher.
Wow! What a view! Even though it was cloudy, you can see all the way North into Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park and all the way South into South Carolina and Georgia! Unfortunately, it had been raining at the trailhead so I didn't bring my cameras as I didn't want to screw them up too early in the trip. I settled for identifying some landmarks and mountains around the area, among them Cold Mountain, the one that is in the book and movie.
Ate lunch and began hiking back down around 1:00. Still saw nobody although there was a couple from Knoxville at the parking area who were headed home after a backpacking trip.
Got home, ate an early dinner and spent the rest of the day lazing as my sister and my brother-in-law had gone back home to Atlanta to prepare for their trip to Bermuda!
Went to bed early as my friend Dana and I were gonna do a booger of a hike on Monday and I wanted to be rested.
More on that tomorrow!

[Klynne]

Originally posted by catbelly
One time we were on holiday and lost our grandpa, turns out he was over by the bandstand watching the bikini contest.

Hehehehe

[Klynne]

What a great trip Mr. D. But, I must demand pics! If you have some, please post.