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Our two month stay at Down by the River Campground is coming to an end. In less than a week we will be heading to Indiana for our new furniture. We still have so much we want to do in this area but with under a week left, some of it won’t get done. A lot of people that come to this part of North Carolina have a trip to Grandfather Mountain near the top of their list. It was high on our list too but it just never seemed to make it to the top. Part of the problem is that you are required to purchase tickets in advance so some planning is required. Earlier in our stay there was the real possibility that a day might sell out. By waiting until late September, the crowds should be diminished. So we check the weather forecast and reserve our tickets for a Friday morning. There is a $20 per person entrance fee but there is more to the park than just the mountain as you will see. |
| Mile High Swinging Bridge |
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| Elevation of the Bridge |
We realized it was going to be cold up here first thing in the morning but we weren’t anticipating the very strong winds. The forecast has told us to expect calm conditions and clear skies. It was half right, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. But the winds were likely around 35 MPH so the hood of my jacket was needed to keep from losing my baseball cap. The high winds made Chris even more cautious in her crossing. But to her credit she made it across although she did not stop midway to enjoy the spectacular views.
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| Words of Advice |
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| Looking Across Bridge |
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| Chris Prepares to Cross |
I took my time coming across to take it all in. The bridge wasn’t really swinging much but it was definitely making a lot of noise. I was curious to know whether the pitch or volume of its whistle changes with wind speed, but with a rather constant wind, I couldn’t detect any sound differences. The bridge was rebuilt in 1999 and there are now lots of cables that anchor the platform to the rocks below with large springs to dampen the bridge’s motion. There were very few people out on the bridge so I didn’t need to be concerned about reaching the 40 person limit. The bright morning sun produced strong shadows on the trees below.
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| View to the East |
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| View to the West |
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| Spring Loaded Cables Limits "Swing" |
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| Bridge Shadow |
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| My Shadow Waves Back |
It’s possible to walk around the rocks of Linville Peak on the opposite side of the bridge although the wind made it much more challenging. Chris opted to take a seat while she waited for me to explore. There isn’t a trail that continues from the Linville Peak side of the bridge so in a sense it’s a bridge to nowhere. The controversial condo that was built on Sugar Mountain back in the early 1980’s sticks out like a sore thumb on the otherwise beautiful landscape.
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| Close-up from Far Side of Bridge |
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| Condo on Sugar Mountain |
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| Bridge View from Linville Peak |
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| Another View to the West |
After getting safely back across the bridge, we headed back to the car to grab our hiking sticks to do one of the shorter and tamer hikes. The Grandfather Loop trail is 1.2 miles in length with just under 400 feet of elevation gain. Chris hoped this one would work out okay for her ankle. We head in a counterclockwise direction which leads us beneath the bridge which is an interesting perspective.
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| Approaching Bridge from Below |
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| Swinging Bridge with Cables |
The first third of a mile is downhill and in a fairly wooded section but then comes out to the main road and a large parking lot that has additional parking for trail access. At this point, we need to fill out a permit form much like I did when I hiked the Nuwati Trail a week ago. It’s free to hike but they make it clear that cars are not permitted to be left overnight. So no backpacking from within the park. The Black Rock Trail also starts from this spot so we need to be careful to keep on our intended route.
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| Bright Patch of Moss |
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| View from Second Parking Lot |
About a half mile from the second parking lot is another trail intersection. Heading right will lead out to the various peaks. Chris seems to be doing okay and is willing to go out this trail for a least a short distance to see what it’s like. We do get a good view of Calloway Peak but after a quarter mile we decide we should head back since we were starting to get hungry.
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| Calloway Peak |
It turned out that even this short loop we were doing had some cables mounted to help negotiate some of the steeper rocks. Since we were most of the way around our intended loop, we decided it was easier to just do the cables instead of turning back. Even the short section of the trail down into the parking lot was challenging. Had we taken this loop in the opposite direction, we might have given up on it? There were many more people at the upper parking lot. A lot of them were reading the warnings at the trailhead and choosing to simply take a picture at the sign instead of doing the hike.
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| Cables Running Along Steep, Rocky Section of Trail |
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| Swinging Bridge Seen from Trail |
We drove a short distance back down the mountain and stopped at the Cliffside Picnic area for our lunch. It was starting to get warm and the winds had died down so it was a beautiful place to eat. It overlooks Forrest Gump Curve. Of course we have seen the movie but not recently so I needed to check out the running scene. Tom Hanks runs this curve on his way up Grandfather Mountain. Given the scene with this curve lasts about 5 seconds in a 2 hour and 22 minute movie, it seems a bit boastful to have a sign printed out for the curve. Yet, while we were eating lunch, somebody stopped and re-enacted the run while his wife recorded it so the curve does have its fan base!
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| Our View for Lunch |
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| Forrest Gump Curve from Above |
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| "Forrest Gump Ran This Curve" |
An even more popular stop is the nature museum and wildlife habitat area - think mini-zoo. Other than a gift shop, the museum is closed while a new facility is under construction. So there wasn’t much to see there.
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| Portion of Nature Museum Open During Construction |
The wildlife habitat doesn’t house a large number of animals but their enclosures are much larger than the typical zoo. They have multiple programs scattered throughout the day at each enclosure. Some included a feeding of the animals while others were just a discussion of how these particular animals ended up here. Our first stop was with the park’s two bald eagles. One has a damaged wing and cannot fly very well while the other is missing one of his eyes.
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| The Two Bald Eagles Pose |
The next stop was for a discussion at the black bear habitat. There are two bears that live in what seems like a huge enclosure. Some of the more massive rocks were obviously part of the terrain well before this enclosure was created. A pretty large crowd was at the overlook and one of the bears knew something was going on and came over to check us out. The same worker gave the bear presentation. He explained how they came to be here. He tried to call the second bear but it wasn’t in the mood. Towards the end of the presentation, the worker threw some sort of toy over the wall to the bear. The bear headed for it but lost interest when it realized no food was included.
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| Bear Enclosure Boulders |
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| One Bear Comes to Visit |
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| Sitting Patiently for a Treat |
The following discussion was at the elk habitat. There are 3 elk residing here. One slightly larger than the others but they all had impressive racks. Initially the bigger one was chilling in the shade close to the viewing area. The other two were practice sparring with their antlers at the far end of the enclosure. The same worker gave this presentation as well. He brought along some freshly cut tree limbs with many green leaves. He went into a closed off section of the enclosure and call for the elk. Only one of them was willing to come over so he scored all the treats.
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| Resting Under Tree |
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| A Second Elk Comes Over |
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| Eating the Treat |
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| I'm Thirsty Now |
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| Practice Sparring |
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| Pond Walker |
The last talk was at the mountain lion habitat. This was a very popular talk and the overlook is rather small so we were unable to get a view of them so we only listened to the same worker’s talk before heading over to check out the otters. These guys had recently been fed some live fish. We missed the beginning of the feeding but other visitors told us the otters would chase the fish, catch them, and release them before repeating the process. I guess mom never told them not to play with their food! One of them was on a small rock ledge near the viewing window with a couple of his fish and had begun to chow down.
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| Otter Chows Down Fish |
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| Otter Flashes Past Window |
The crowds had dismissed at the mountain lion overlook so we headed back but by then the residents were nowhere to be seen. Just down from the the wildlife habitat, right along the main road are two massive boulders. Both are named. Split Rock was obvious given the foot wide split in the rock. The other is called Sphinx Rock supposedly from the profile view of the rock. It’s estimated that Sphinx Rock weighs 4000 tons! That pretty much wrapped up a long day of exploring at Grandfather Mountain. It well worth the money and time to check it out if you’re in the area.
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| Split Rock's Split |
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| Split Rock and Sphinx Rock Along Road |
With all the walking at Grandfather Mountain, Chris decided to give her ankle a rest the next day so I had another solo hike to attempt. I had one more waterfall hike in the Lost Cove Wilderness Study Area. Gragg Prong Falls is actually a series of 3 distinct falls. Had we continued on from Hunt Fish Falls a couple weeks ago, we could have gotten to them. An alternative trailhead is along Roseborough Road which is north of the falls. It turns out this road is much nicer than the FS-464 we have taken numerous times but there aren’t quite as many trails that start along this road. The portion of the Gragg Prong Trail I planned to hike would be about 2 miles generally downhill and then retrace my route back to the car. There would be 3 water crossings and based on the recent reviews I suspected the water might be high enough to warrant bringing my water shoes along.
By going for this hike on a Saturday, there were lots of other people out. Many of them were tent camping in some of the primitive campsites along the creek. Initially it wasn’t clear where my trail started but in short time figured it out and was on my way. It was a pretty hike right next to the creek most of the way. The first water crossing was shallow enough and had stepping rocks so I could cross with dry feet. When I got near where I thought the first set of falls were, I was having no luck finding a trail that would get me to them. So I skipped them and hoped to figure it out on the return trip.
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| Sign at Proper Starting Point |
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| Small Cascade Along Gragg Prong |
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| Mushroom Cluster |
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| Easy Creek Crossing |
The second crossing was much deeper and had some fast moving water. It was clear that I needed to switch shoes. A family of 3 passed me at this crossing. They were just wearing lightweight hiking shoes so they didn’t care that they got wet. I paid attention to their various routes across and picked the one that looked best to me. I knew the third crossing was less than a quarter mile away, so I didn’t switch back to boots. The third crossing wasn’t too bad but having water shoes on made it quite easy. Based on my maps, I shouldn’t have another crossing until I turn around and head back so I switched to boots.
The second set of falls was quite obvious since the trail is right next to the top of them. The family that passed me was sitting there so I opted to continue on to the third falls. These were impressive. There is a large rock outcropping that allowed access to a small upper cascade with a much larger water fall just below it. I decided this was the perfect spot for lunch. The only person I saw was a kid at the base of the larger falls below who appeared to be fishing.
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| Upper Portion of Falls #3 |
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| Different Angle |
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| Looking Down the Lower Section of Falls #3 |
There was a geocache towards the base of the falls that hadn’t been found in some time and I decided to go for it. The rocks along the falls looked way too steep and slippery to try, so I continued down the trail hoping to find some access trail. I tried one very challenging descent and after sliding down the mud on my but, I made it to the water but was now too far downstream to get back to the cache. I turned back and found one last possible route to the cache, but after a couple hundred feet of very steep and slick path, I was within 75 feet of the water but the drop off at this point was too severe. I could hear Chris’ voice in my head telling me to “not even think about trying that!”
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| Made It to Water Level |
Between lunch and my failed caching attempts, by the time I got back up to the 2nd falls, the family was gone but 4 other people were there. I stopped to check it out. These falls aren’t quite as impressive as the 3rd one but easier to walk around.
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| Back to Falls #2 |
As I continue back to the car, I repeated my water crossings. For some reason the more challenging one took me much longer to cross in this direction. When I was approaching the first falls, I could now hear people down below so I knew there was a way down there. It turned out the path down was much more apparent heading uphill and I was able to get down to them without much difficulty. The falls were pretty but the third falls were definitely my favorite.
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| Spur to the Left on Way Back Uphill |
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| Made It to Falls #1 |
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| Another View of Falls #1 |
When I got back near the parking lot, I realized I still had time and energy to go look for a nearby geocache. The one I went for hadn’t been found in well over 4 years. I enjoy the challenge of looking for these “lonely” caches. It took me a while to determine the correct entrance to the trail I wanted and then found it was a pretty good uphill climb. The area near ground zero was dense with trees and rather dark. Plus it was on the side of a hill so the footing was a challenge especially after 5 miles of hiking before getting here. I looked for quite some time and was almost ready to give up when I caught a glimpse of the container. It was in surprisingly great shape given it was hidden in 2006. With that accomplished, I headed back to the car to drive home. Another nice hike in this area.
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| Lonely Cache Last Found 4/11/17 |
The next day, Chris was up for another hike. There were several options on the east side of Linville Gorge. We had seen both Hawksbill Mountain and Table Rock Mountain from Wiseman’s View and either of them looked both interesting and not overly difficult. We picked Table Rock since another trail starts at the same parking area. The drive to the trailhead was an adventure by itself. After getting off NC-181, it’s a very winding and bumpy dirt road most of the 9 miles it takes to get to Table Rock. It didn’t help that our navigation system in the Jeep didn’t have the correct location of these roads back here. The last 1.4 miles to the trailhead parking lot for Table Rock is actually paved but narrow and rather steep with plenty of switchbacks - climbing over 800 feet in that short distance for a 11% average grade. There were already dozens of cars parked but it’s a surprisingly large lot so we got a spot but had we arrived an hour later I doubt there would have been room.
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| View of Table Rock Mountain from Parking Area |
We decide to try the other trail that starts from here and heads south out to a place called The Chimneys. Turns out this trail is another portion of the Mountain to Sea Trail - we seem to run into this one frequently in our adventures here in NC. It’s not quite a mile to the interesting rock formations and since the trail is following the ridge line, the elevation change isn’t too extreme - about 400 feet. We didn’t have to go very far past the picnic area to hit the incredible views. We’ve been hiking our butts off for nearly 4 months in North Carolina and this hike was turning into one of our favorites. Looking to the west is Linville Gorge while to the east is the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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| Panoramic View from Chimneys Trail |
As we progress along the trail, we find ourselves going over, around and thru some of the rock outcroppings or “Chimneys”. It reminds us of Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona except this area is much more lush and green. The bulk of the trees hadn’t started to change colors yet, but there were enough of them that the spots of reds and oranges added to the beauty. The opposite side of the gorge has lots of exposed rocks.
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| Rugged Terrain |
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| Vibrant Fall Colors |
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| More Chimneys |
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| Looking Across Linville Gorge |
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| Peeking Between Two Chimneys |
At one point along the trail was a woman doing yoga on the rocks. We saw lots of this when we were in Sedona, but it seems like the long drive and hike out here makes this a much more improbable spot for yoga. One viewpoint provides a great look at Table Rock Mountain.
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| View of Table Rock Mountain |
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| Surrounded By Beauty |
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| Yoga Woman |
Further out along the trail, we found a group of rock climbers. We picked a spot nearby to watch them and realized this was actually a training class for wannabe climbers. I’m not sure we picked up any pointers that would help us but it was still interesting to watch for a few minutes. We continued on the trail a bit beyond the climbers to a spur trail I had on my GPS which got us to a nice viewpoint of the Chimneys we had just hike through.
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| Climbing Lesson |
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| Looking Back at the Chimneys Near Our Turn Around Point |
We could have continued on this trail but it seemed like we were past any of the unique rock formations so we turned back near the bear sanctuary sign. One of the nearby maple trees had some of the most interesting fall color changes. The bulk of each leaf was green but it was almost as if it was spattered with red. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t blood although it looked like it.
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| Bear Spray is in the Car! |
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| Blood Spattered Maple Leaves? |
The hike back was equally impressive since we were seeing all the sights from a different perspective.
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| Isolated Chimneys |
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| Approaching Narrow Gap Thru Rocks |
When we got back to the car, the parking area looked to be full. But we weren’t ready to give up our spot. The plan was to have our lunch in the picnic area then tackle the Table Rock Trail. We figured that given the difficulty in driving here, we should get both of the hikes done in a single visit. It’s not a very long hike covering 1.4 miles out and back. It too starts out following the Mountain to Sea Trail but only for 1/3 mile before taking a hard right and continuing to the top of the mountain gaining about 550 feet of elevation.
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| Heading Up Table Rock Trail |
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| Unrecognized Flower Bud |
There were some pretty views but they got even better when we got to the top. There are several different viewpoints that allow visitors to see whichever direction they liked. Looking across Linville Gorge, I knew that the viewpoints from Wiseman’s View were over there somewhere, but I couldn’t make them out until I got back and pulled up the images on the laptop. There were a fair number of people up here. It seemed like this was a more popular trail than the one to the Chimneys which seems strange since we felt the hike thru the chimneys was much more interesting and beautiful.
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| Beautiful Linville Gorge |
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| Wiseman's View is Hiding in This Shot |
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| Final Shot from Atop Table Rock Mountain |
Chris was starting to feel this hike in her ankle so she headed back to the car while I took a small spur trail that led out to a geocache. I looked and looked but came up empty. But the detour wasn’t a total waste of time since it got me to another viewpoint that allowed me to see just how steep the side of Table Rock Mountain is. There is a very narrow and deep chasm between the land I was on and the mountain. After enjoying the views, I hustled back to the car to find Chris and head back the many miles of twists, turns and bumps. This was a wonderful place to explore. My advice it to check out the Chimneys Trail first and then do the Table Rock Trail if you have the energy and time.
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| Chasm Shot |
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| Close-up of Side of Table Rock |
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| Another Chasm View |
I think I had mentioned in an earlier post about a problem we were having with the toilet in our rig. First off, toilets in RVs are not at all like those in sticks and bricks buildings. Most have a “drop toilet” which means it is right above the black holding tank. Push a lever with your foot and you can control adding water to the bowl or open the valve to make everything drop out of sight. Unfortunately ours has what’s called a macerator toilet. It is more of an electronic device with a set of switches on the wall that activates the flush cycle. There is a small motor that drives an impeller that grinds things up and can send the waste to a tank not immediately below the toilet.
Our toilet was having an intermittent issue where the flush cycle started normally and even emptied but the macerator motor would just keep running indefinitely instead of just for the second or two it is supposed to. We believed the problem is with the toilet controller. We joke that we need to get a new motherboard for our toilet! However, with the supply chain issues occurring, these things are next to impossible to locate. Two weeks before we were to leave North Carolina, we found an Amazon vendor in Michigan with one controller. The expected delivery window would get it to us between 7 to 4 days before we leave so I ordered it. It shipped the next day, and made it to a FedEx facility in Hickory NC in two days. Hickory is less than 60 miles from us so we were felling good we would have in another day or two - well before we leave on October 1.
Each day the tracking info would tell us to expect delivery that day but the package status never changed to “out for delivery” and it never showed up. After a week of this, we were nervous it might not arrive before we were to leave. The campground was unwilling to accept delivery and then forward it to our Florida address. We tried to get FedEx to change the shipping address but were told that wasn’t possible. Heck we even asked if we could drive the 90 minutes to Hickory and simply pick up the package - nope! Amazon would allow us to get a full refund if the package didn’t arrive by the end of day on October 1.
Jump forward in time. The package didn’t arrive, I was able to request a refund from the seller and my credit card was refunded a few days later for the full amount. I assumed the package would get sent back to the seller and I no longer worried about it. By then we found another vendor with a controller, ordered it and shipped it to where we will be in Florida this winter. Over 3 weeks later, we get a call from the campground owner in NC. Our package was delivered to our former campsite - five and a half weeks after we ordered it! The current residents recognized it wasn’t for them and took it to the office. I got the campground and seller in touch with one another and hopefully the seller will ship it back to Michigan via UPS or USPS.
Some friends of ours that we met in our first year of full timing while working on a Habitat for Humanity build just north of Seattle happen to live in North Carolina and were camping up near West Jefferson. We got in touch and arranged to get together before we head out. We picked the town of Boone since it was roughly the half way point. It was so good to see them and get caught up with their move from one house to another in the upcoming months. After enjoying a picnic lunch in a small park, we all hopped on our bikes and went for a bit of a ride along the Boone Greenway Trail. We rode the full 3 miles of the paved trail. It was surprisingly flat given the general terrain of this area. We still had had lots to talk about so we headed over to Stick Boy Kitchen for some desert. The afternoon went quickly but we will get a chance to visit again down in Florida since they stay at a campground not too far from ours.
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| Remnant of Old Power House Along the New River |
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| Exceptionally Low Picnic Table |
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| Another Power House View |
Our last outing of our 2 month stay here would take us back up to Blowing Rock. The plan was to hike to a couple more waterfalls. It seems like half of our hikes in this area have included waterfalls so adding two more seemed fitting. This hike starts very close to the middle of downtown Blowing Rock. Both Glen Burney and Glen Marie Falls are along New Years Creek. The hike to the falls would be all downhill (about 715 feet) and be about 1.5 miles each way. The trail was in good shape with only a few slick and muddy sections. What looks like a new bridge made the one creek crossing easy. There are also lots of signs along the trail. The one at the split between the 2 falls was definitely helpful.
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| New Bridge Over New Years Creek |
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| Which Way Do We Go? |
We headed to Glen Burney Falls first. It’s about a 40 foot drop and the water levels were on the low side so these falls weren’t the most impressive. Next was the hike down to Glen Marie Falls. The trail brings us to the top of the falls. It was hard to get close enough to safely look down. So we find a bit of a continuation to the trail that heads further down. This was the steepest and most treacherous part possibly because it might not be part of the sanctioned trail. But we make it to the bottom of the falls. This set of falls is a 60 foot drop and a bit more dramatic. |
| Glen Burney Falls |
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| Top of Glen Marie Falls |
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| Glen Marie Falls from Below |
This wasn’t the best waterfall hike we have done during this stop. Both falls would be much better with more water although the trail shouldn’t be attempted in wet conditions. But it was still a nice, reasonably short hike. It was a climb back to the top but manageable. We hadn’t parked at the small trailhead lot since it was crowded but this gave us the chance to walk past Mayview Lake on our way to the car. We returned to camp along the BRP and stopped at a few overlooks for our last look at the Blue Ridge Mountains as the autumn colors were just starting to come out.
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| Blowing Rock's Mayview Lake and Fountain |
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| Just Starting to Get Fall Colors |
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| More Falls Colors with Grandfather Mountain in Distance |
The 4 months in North Carolina and especially these last 2 months in Pineola gave us some very memorable hikes and a chance to catch up with some old friends. While this stop doesn’t have the name recognition like Glacier National Park or Acadia National Park - two of our favorite stops in the past 5 years - it did provide us with a wealth of enjoyment and beauty concentrated in a small region. If we didn’t need to get up to Elkhart Indiana to have our new furniture installed, we likely would have tried to extend our stay here through the end of October when Down by the River Campground closes for the season. I suspect we will be back this way again.
