October 2017 Roadtrip Days 1-2 Highpointing in North Carolina

Greetings One and All,

     The inspiration for this trip came from a short little trail I took five years ago to a place called White Butte, North Dakota.  In a very flat state, it’s the highest point.  From the parking area it was fifteen minutes out and back, including the time spent chatting with a guy I met on the trail. 

    It got me thinking about state high points.  Since the North Dakota Trip, I’ve managed to hit fourteen so far.  No, I have no intention of doing them all.  Quite frankly, I’m not that ambitious to tackle places like Mt. Denali.  Basically, if I can’t do it in a day, then I’m probably not going to do it.

     In Iowa, the highest point was in some guy’s yard and as long as people respected that, he had no problem with people visiting.  In Mississippi it was a steep drive up a dirt road I never would have tried to climb if it had rained.  In Alabama and New Jersey it was a simple walk across a parking lot.  Louisiana included a mile and a half hike in the snow and Maryland’s was about two and a half miles.  For Texas it was a steady four mile climb to the top. 

    On this trip I was going to attempt North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.  Two had parking lots close to the summit and alternate trails if you prefer the slower route.  Toss in some waterfalls, state and municipal parks and a roadtrip quickly came together.

Day 1  Sunday 10/22/17

   My relief came in a 5P and it was time to hit the road.  The question was, just how far did I want to drive.  I chose Hendersonville, North Carolina for my first night and crossed my fingers for a smooth drive.   It was all interstate, I-85 to I-26.  Best guess was three and a half hours.  Little did I know what the South Carolina DOT had in store for me up ahead. 

    Ten miles before the exit, they squeezed us down to two lanes for six miles.  There were actual crews working on the other lane with plenty of flashing lights to slow us down even further.  One mile before my exit, they squeezed us down to one lane and the next eight exits were closed.  There's nothing like having to drive by your exit.  Fortunately, all the construction seemed to be northbound.  I looped around eight miles up and picked up I-26 from the other direction.  

   All told it cost me close to an hour.  But, the Days Inn in Henderson turned out to be pretty good, even with a little road noise.  And it was so worth not having to face Monday morning traffic in Atlanta.  

    

Day 2  Monday 10/23/17

   

     It would seem I spoke too soon about the Henderson Days Inn.  While I couldn’t hear the TV next door or any conversations, the sound of water rushing through pipes was a bit loud, and the breakfast was pretty sad for a Days Inn.  How lame?  I walked across the street and had breakfast at a Starbucks.

      The promised rain was already falling.  At least it was still a light drizzle while I was packing the car.  The forecasters in Ashville were expecting two inches throughout the day.  In hindsight, I believe it.  But still, I was anxious to get on my way.  
      Just  a few exits north on I-26 was the turnoff for Hwy 25 which would eventually bring me to the Blue Ridge Parkway.   It didn’t take that long to encounter my first scenic overlook.

     And a second from the other side of the road. 

     One of the tunnels along the parkway.

     I would have loved to park, run halfway back into the tunnel and take some photos.  The rolling fog framed by the tunnel exit looked really cool.  Somehow, I doubt the state police would have appreciated it.  Nor would the other drivers encountering a photog stranding in the middle of the tunnel.

     The first major stop of the day was Mount Mitchell State Park.  The mountain was originally named Black Dome.  It was renamed for Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina.  Mitchell discovered the peak was higher than previously thought.  At 6684 feet, it became the highest peak east of the Mississippi. 

     The trail up Mount Mitchell is eleven and a half miles round trip.  It starts out with a light incline and slowly becomes more and more steep.  If it wasn’t for the stretch of trail listed as strenuous that included scrambling over boulders, I would have considered it.   The weather made the decision moot.  I shot this from a scenic overlook.  

     The state park is directly off the parkway and the park road dead ends at a parking lot.  Not much of a view. 

   Considering the rain and wind strong enough to rock the car, I left the camera in the car and just made a dash to the high point marker.  I didn’t bother with the observation tower.   I still got soaked though.  But, it does go in the books as high point #15.

    On the way out I stopped into the visitors center.  They confirmed the forecast, but expected the rain to end overnight.  Fortunately, I was long gone before the first snow of the season.  That was three days away.

     Some more random shots from the scenic overlooks…

     The fog thickened and thinned all day.  Between the low visibility, the rain and all the wet leaves on the road, it did make for slow going.  I still found myself way ahead of schedule.

    Shortly after noon, I pulled into the town of Linville.  There’s a mile and a half loop trail to numerous overlooks of Linville Falls.   If I could get a break in the rain, I was still considering it.  What the heck, I was already wet. I stopped into Louis’s Famous Grindhouse Restaurant for some lunch. It's a curious place straddling three different counties.  There are signs inside so you can pick which county to sit in.  It’s also the only place to eat in town.  The sandwich was decent.  The apple pie… delicious.

    After lunch, I found the turnoff for the parking area and the trailhead to Linville Falls.  As I sat in the car contemplating, the rain only picked up, as did the wind.  I kept glancing at the sign indicating only .4 miles to the first overlook.  After a few minutes, the car stopped rocking from the wind and the rain tapered off…a bit. 

     Just for times like this, I always pack a heavy duty golf umbrella.  I knew I would get soaked again from the waist down no matter what I did.  But, the umbrella and my rain jacket would protect the camera.

     So, off I went, hopping across a handful of small streams crossing the trail and picking my way past flooded sections.  The thunder echoing off the mountains only quickened my pace.

     The deciding factor to go was in fact the rain.  With the extra volume of water, the falls should be running a little higher than usual.  It was well worth the soaking.  At the end of the trail is a barricaded viewing area. 

      All that water gets squeezed and channeled into a sharp curve then over yet another waterfall.  

      There's another trail that works its way down to the base of the falls.  But, at this point I was just done with the wet.  So, I just hiked back to the car and headed out.

      Still ridiculously ahead of schedule for the day, I pressed on to Blowing Rock.  I had booked a night in the Hemlock Inn.  This is definitely a place I would stay again.  The room was a little small, but obviously well cared for.  The office staff told me the rain was still expected to end in the early morning.  Their concern were the multiple tornado alerts.  I had hoped to arrive here in the early evening after hitting a few trails.  Instead, I arrived at 3P.  Like I said, way ahead of schedule.  This is also why I also pack plenty of reading material.

    Around 5P there was a knock on the door.  That’s when I noticed the large puddle on the inside of said door. It was the inn’s owner with a large stack of towels.  All the rain had swamped a small earthen dam up the hill and it gave way.  The school downhill from the inn was flooded.  Water came flowing through the parking lot of the inn as well.  The city had even closed the road downhill since the water was still flowing. 

     As he blotted up the water, he told me about a local place called Antlers.  It’s the bar inside an Italian restaurant named Roca’s.  There’s no sign, you just have to know it’s there.  It’s a throwback to the bar’s history.  It was opened in 1932 as a speakeasy, one year before the end of prohibition.  The alcohol was delivered via an underground tunnel from a secret still inside the Hemlock Inn. 
     The rain had finally stopped and the sky was clearing.  Intrigued by the story of Antlers, I decided to walk  the two blocks to the restaurant.  

   From the inside, it looks like any other bar, except for two things...

   There’s only a men’s room in the bar area.  Women weren’t allowed when it first opened, so there was no need for a second bathroom.  It was added to the restaurant side when they expanded.   The second is what’s hanging on the walls.  It’s hundreds of photos of dogs and they were all taken within the bar. 

     While Antlers claims be the oldest continuously operating bar in the state, it’s not by far the oldest bar.  That goes to a place in Winston-Salem simply called The Tavern which opened in 1771.   But, The Tavern closed during prohibition.

     Across from the restaurant sits a small city park.  I took a walk, hoping to get a sunset in the partially clearing skies.