NC High Country

[RickB]

Celebrating our anniversary in the Blue Ridge. Dumb luck had us at the summit of Mount Mitchell this morning. Highest peak east of the Mississippi, it was a near perfect day. Got there about 11:00 AM and there were exactly 6 people on the observation tower. We were able to see Clingman's Dome 70 miles away with the naked eye. Also hiked the nearby Crabtree Falls loop.

 

[Ford850]

Happy Anniversary Rick. Great scenery that will make for great memories!

 

[oldballs]

Rick, That's an anniversary to remember. Having a clear day helped.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Sigarms]

Irony is I've lived in NC for 20 years now, and the only time I was at Mount Mitchell is when I hiked the AT 32 years prior starting off in Georgia after driving a day or two just to get there LOL

Small world when I came across an older man and his wife on the trail up to Mount Mitchell looking for "yellow slippers". I helped, looking for what I thought were shoes, then feeling like an idiot when I found out they were flowers. Small world because talking with the man, his brother was serving on town council with my father back up in Pennsyslvania.

Due to work, end up around Boone a lot now, area is just as nice IMO.

Blue Ridge parkway is a must drive IMO.

Dove through Lincoln county from SC more than a couple of times, very nice area geographically IMO and not over populated.

 

[dmccarty]

Once upon a time, I was on the parkway during the summer and it was kinda warm/hot so people were in shorts. Got up to Mount Mitchell, there was a strong wind blowing and it was COLD! You needed a heavy jacket, which nobody had, since it was warm out. People were taking a quick look around and getting back in their vehicles to keep from freezing.

Grand Father Mountain is also a place to visit as well, along with Biltmore, Linville gorge/falls, the drive from Franklin to Highlands, ...

Later,
Dan

 

[RickB]

Irony is I've lived in NC for 20 years now, and the only time I was at Mount Mitchell is when I hiked the AT 32 years prior starting off in Georgia after driving a day or two just to get there LOL

Small world when I came across an older man and his wife on the trail up to Mount Mitchell looking for "yellow slippers". I helped, looking for what I thought were shoes, then feeling like an idiot when I found out they were flowers. Small world because talking with the man, his brother was serving on town council with my father back up in Pennsyslvania.

Due to work, end up around Boone a lot now, area is just as nice IMO.

Blue Ridge parkway is a must drive IMO.

Dove through Lincoln county from SC more than a couple of times, very nice area geographically IMO and not over populated.

We vowed not to ignore the beauty of NC as badly as we did that of New York State having lived there for many decades.

 

[Diggin It]

Mid 90s sometime, I took off on a road trip from the big city I was in at the time. No idea where I was going, just pointed the car in a direction and followed the road.

Ended up in Ashville. Did the Blue Ridge for a ways and part of the Skyline Drive. Hit Devil's Courtyard and a couple of other places. Headed east and hit the coast, some little town that was barely on the map, but had a crab cannery. Wandered around for a bit and passed by Seymour Johnson, then headed back home after about two weeks.

 

[RickB]

Grassy Creek Falls yesterday. Enough overhang that I could step behind the flow.

 

[Sigarms]

Ended up in Ashville.

FYI, Asheville is the lesbian captial of NC. Found that out 20 years ago, thought they were yanking my chain. They weren't.

Not that there is anything wrong with being a lesbian, just found it interesting....

 

[Sigarms]

We vowed not to ignore the beauty of NC as badly as we did that of New York State having lived there for many decades.

All comes down to where you're at in life. Found a lot of beauty in NY. Then I was single and traveling.

Make sure you hit Grandfather Mountain, like it better than the Mount Mitchell area. I'll PM you the shores in NC to hit

Get married, have kids, have a house payment, have to take care of the lawn or yard, the free time gets cut into Gameplan on our end is once the kids move out, go back to being single with each other again.

 

[Sigarms]

Linville gorge/falls ...

The irony is that was when I lived in NY when I went there and it was with some guys from WV who showed me the lines. Kind of like the first time in WV. Show up after midnight, camp, then hit the river.

 

[RickB]

All comes down to where you're at in life. Found a lot of beauty in NY. Then I was single and traveling.

Make sure you hit Grandfather Mountain, like it better than the Mount Mitchell area. I'll PM you the shores in NC to hit

Get married, have kids, have a house payment, have to take care of the lawn or yard, the free time gets cut into Gameplan on our end is once the kids move out, go back to being single with each other again.

We arrived in NC 4 years ago today. We are getting a pretty good handle on what we want to see in the mountains. A 90 minute to 2 hour drive in any direction from NNE to WSW takes in a lot of territory. We've been to Grandfather Mtn and some of the more popular waterfalls. We are labeling smaller towns like Burnsville, Saluda, Elkin, West Jefferson and Sylva as places to go back to. Tourist hubs like Blowing Rock and Waynesville are places to go through on the way to somewhere else. We plan on a second trip to Biltmore soon. I just retired last week and my wife is retired so the journey begins in earnest now. I notice I have a PM, I'll check it out soon, thanks.

 

[Frankenkubota]

FYI, Asheville is the lesbian captial of NC. Found that out 20 years ago, thought they were yanking my chain. They weren't.

Not that there is anything wrong with being a lesbian, just found it interesting....

asheville wants to grow up to be portland

 

[Frankenkubota]

I've been here over 40 years, NC, and have been to virtually every spot mentioned, even Elkin!

The Biltmore at night at christmas time is something!

in the mid 90s i was doing pretty good so i bought a 66 e type jag, series 1, rag top, numbers car, NO RUST! Car is currently in baskets at brothers house.

i will bet that i'm the only traveling salesmanwho would take a 2 seat 30 year old BRITISH. car on a business trip. I did it 25 times at least. My customers loved it except, if more than one guy going to lunch, bring your own car!

i'd see my customers and then drive the blue ridge parkway to my next stop. I guess i'm very lucky. i'd get that sucker flying, going around the curves, virtually no traffic, top down, zoomin!

i later found out it was patrolled constantly by the state cops, looking for people like me.

Seems we are back to the oldnormal here in the tarhole state.

Weather is clear, dry, warm but not too hot, humidity leaving and. NO RAIN forecast!

 

[Chewwy]

We arrived in NC 4 years ago today. We are getting a pretty good handle on what we want to see in the mountains. A 90 minute to 2 hour drive in any direction from NNE to WSW takes in a lot of territory. We've been to Grandfather Mtn and some of the more popular waterfalls. We are labeling smaller towns like Burnsville, Saluda, Elkin, West Jefferson and Sylva as places to go back to. Tourist hubs like Blowing Rock and Waynesville are places to go through on the way to somewhere else. We plan on a second trip to Biltmore soon. I just retired last week and my wife is retired so the journey begins in earnest now. I notice I have a PM, I'll check it out soon, thanks.

Rick, glad you were able to retire.

If you haven’t seen them yet, try Upper Whitewater Falls, Looking Glass Falls, Dry Falls, and High Falls, all located within about 30 miles of each other in western NC.