Exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway

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As I mentioned in the last post, our campground is about a 2 mile drive from the BRP. We know from our 2 months in Waynesville NC, there are lots of things to see and do all along the parkway. We haven’t been in this area before so all of the hikes and sights will be new to us. About 20 miles north on the BRP is Moses Cone Memorial Park. It’s the former estate of Cone, a textile entrepreneur. Now run by the National Park Service, the 3500 acre estate has 25 miles of carriage trails, two large lakes and the manor house open to the public. We drove up to hike one of the trails and check out the manor house. Our goal was the Flat Top Mountain Trail.

Even though we arrived mid-morning, the parking lot was nearly full. We found a spot near the BRP which turned out to our advantage since the trail we wanted starts near our parking spot. The round trip hike will be just under 5 miles with 600 feet of elevation gain. The carriage road is in excellent shape with crushed gravel surface. Unlike the ones we did in Acadia National Park in Maine, bicycles are not permitted on these although horses are allowed. The bridge under the BRP isn’t quite as ornate as those in Maine but still pretty.

Carriage Trail Under Blue Ridge Parkway

It’s a pleasant walk with some steeper sections but nothing too extreme. The views of the rolling hills and mountains of the Blue Ridge gave good distance views while lots of flowers and a few butterflies made for a good reason to stop for a breather and a picture or two.

This Way to Flat Top Tower

View of Distant Mountains

Heading Up

Milkweed Blooming

Silver-Spotted Skipper

Common Wood-Nymph Butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

At the top of the mountain is a sturdy 40 foot fire tower. The skies were reasonably clear so the views from up top were nice. Chris couldn’t convince herself to come up and enjoy the views with me.

Flat Top Mountain Tower from Below

Top of Tower Looking Down Steps

Panoramic View from Tower

Another Direction

It was a much easier walk coming back down. The graves for Moses Cone and his wife Bertha are just off the main trail and worth a look. We ran into a couple of horseback riders on their way up. We made it back to the car for lunch before heading over to the Cone Manor House.

Pretty Bloom

Cone Gravesite

Horseback Riders Heading Uphill

Pretty View from Trail

The house is going through an extensive (and expensive) restoration. Normally the house is open to the public and has ranger guided tours. But with the construction, that has changed. We did see that there would be a mid-afternoon talk by a ranger on the steps of the home, so we decided that would be the next best thing. As it turned out, it is possible to see some of the first floor rooms. Apparently a local group of artists use a couple of the rooms to display their works. We checked that out while waiting for our talk to start.

Cone Manor Getting Renovated

Pardon Our Dust

Fancy Staircase Inside

Leaded Glass at Front Entrance

Our ranger was a wealth of information on this place. Built in the late 1800’s, the 13,000 square foot home has 23 rooms.  Besides the house, carriage trails and two lakes, Moses had 200 acres turned into apple orchard with over 30,000 trees and 80 varieties. Unfortunately he died in 1908 at only 51 years old. His wife continued to live there for 40 more years and then the estate was turned over to the park service. We chatted with the ranger about hikes in the area since he mentioned that he did a lot of hiking. It looks like we will need to come back here a few more times if we want to experience other areas of the property.

View from Cone Manor with Bass Lake in Distance

Carriage House

The next day we headed to a another hike just off the BRP. Flat Rock Trail was suggested by the park ranger as a good spot for sunset. We decided to try it during the light of day first to get a feel for the trail and the view. It’s one of the closer trails to camp and it’s not very strenuous at 0.7 miles and only 137 feet of elevation gain. We’ve driven by the trailhead parking and know it can get busy at times but we lucked out and nearly had the place to ourselves. There are many interpretive signs along the way identifying plants. We’re reasonably good with plant id, and we suspect the signs were placed years ago and are no longer relevant. It was an okay hike with some nice views from the rock outcropping.

Flowers Along Trail

View from Flat Rock

Windswept Tree

A Touch of Fall Color?

We head back to the Harper Creek Wilderness Study Area for our second hike in that vicinity. South Harper Creek Falls hike is 3.5 mile hike with just over 500 feet of elevation gain. The trailhead location requires even more driving on the bumpy forest service roads in that area. First is 2.5 miles on FS464 then a right hand turn down FS58. We had walked a portion of this road on our earlier hike to get to the North Harper Creek Trailhead. This time we will need to drive over 4 miles more further south on FS58. This drive feels even more desolate since this road appears to end about a half mile beyond our trailhead. When we arrived at the small parking area near the start, there was already a truck parked and while we were getting our gear, several mountain bikers went by heading back up FS58. So while it seemed we were in the middle of nowhere, we weren’t the only ones there!

Harper Creek Trailhead

The first 1.25 miles of Trail #260 was generally downhill - losing about 140 feet - and was in reasonably good shape. The next 0.2 miles heads down to the creek level and drops another 170 feet for 16% average grade. For the most part footing was good and we didn’t have issues with the steepness of the trail. We knew our real destination was across the creek and up to an overlook of the falls but we were at water level and I felt obligated to see what the view was from this vantage point. So instead we detoured a bit to continue on #260 to see where it would lead and what the falls looked like. After a short distance, we saw a side trail that led to the water. Since the main trail was a very steep descent going forward, we took this side trail and got to the water. There was a large rock surface that would be the river’s bottom when the flow is greater, but was mostly dry and walkable. Chris opted to skip this part fearing she would somehow fall over the edge.

Harper Creek

I spent a bit of time exploring to the extent I felt safe. There was one 15 foot drop above my entrance point and one indeterminate drop below. It was a bit scary to look over the edge and not being able to see the bottom but hear the water flowing. I attempted to locate the overlook point we will be heading to across the valley but I couldn’t see it.

Small Falls Above Main Falls

Over the Edge

Long Ways Down!

Safely back on the trail, we headed back up to the intended route where we would cross the river. Along the way, we spotted a very nice section of the creek that had the perfect spot for lunch. After eating, we made it to the crossing point. We could see the continuation of the trail on the opposite side but there wasn’t an obvious dry route across. After looking upstream and downstream a bit without any better option, we just went for it. Each of us had one foot hit water but at a point that wasn’t deep enough to go over the top of our hiking boots.

Our Crossing Point

We now had 0.4 miles of mostly uphill to get to the overlook. There wasn’t a sign for the overlook from this trail and since it continues on another quarter mile to another trail, it was important that we had the location of the overlook in our Garmin and phone. We finally spotted a spur trail on the left and it led us down to the overlook. Unlike the overlooks at Linville Falls, there are no railings to keep visitors from getting too close to the edge. Chris had her fear of heights to keep away from the edge. I explored the area trying to find the best vantage point that seemed safe to me. The falls are probably a tenth of a mile across the valley from this spot but they were still quite impressive. There seemed to be shorter upper drop and then a much larger lower drop. I suspect that when I was at water level earlier in the hike, I was looking over that upper drop. Good to know if I had gone over that drop it would have been quite a long way to the bottom! I did manage to get a shot of both of us with the falls in the background but it was from a spot that didn’t have the best view of them.

South Harper Creek Falls from Overlook

Zoomed In

Selfie with Falls Between Us (Honest)

The walk back wasn’t too eventful. There were a couple of very cool mushrooms and even a lizard that posed for a picture on the side of a tree. We were tired when we got back to the car but it was a very memorable hike that likely was closer to 4 miles or so when it was all said and done. We still had the 6.5 miles of bumpy dirt road to drive to get back to pavement.

Cherry Red Mushroom

Mushroom with Texture

Lizard Climbing Tree

I had mentioned in a previous post, we were getting some dental work done in Asheville while we were camping closer in Waynesville. Unfortunately we both had a follow up appointment remaining. It’s about double the travel time from Pineola but at least we could schedule our visit at the same time. After we were done, we planned on taking a leisurely drive back up the BRP and stopping along the way at some spots we hadn’t seen before. First stop was the Folk Art Center near mile post 344 in Asheville. We spent some time exploring the wide assortment of different arts and crafts. Photography isn’t permit of the art work so you’ll need to trust me that it’s worth the stop if your traveling in the area.

Folk Art Center

A geocache required us to get information from displays within the Folk Art Center and our final location for the container appeared to be on a trail along the BRP just a mile or so north of there. This worked out well and we did a short section of the Mountain to Sea Trail to find it and another cache nearby. We stopped at various overlooks along the way as we headed north. There are so many of them that it’s nearly impossible to stop at them all but if the view looked good we might pause along the way.

Large Mushroom Found Before Geocache

Overlook View

Another View

A bit further north just beyond the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center is the Craggy Dome Overlook at mile post 364. The view from the overlook is nice but there is a short (and steep) trail up to the Craggy Pinnacle Summit. We wanted to stretch the legs a bit so up we went. Up top is a large rock outcropping that isn’t flat but isn’t too extreme. There also is a nice rock retaining wall all around the perimeter so safety isn’t a huge issue. From the looks of the clouds in the distance, we suspected rain might be moving in.

View at Craggy Pinnacle Summit

Possible Storm Heading Our Way

We pushed on north on the BRP and stopped at an the Green Knob Overlook just as rain was starting to fall nearby. It was neat to see it approach. We continued north but in a couple minutes, the rain had caught up with us. It has been a long time since I have driven in such a major downpour. Driving the winding roads of the BRP didn’t help. At the next available overlook we pulled over and waited it out. A few more cars ended up joining us. From the weather radar app, it looked like the storm was only 5 miles or so around but it was more or less stationary over us. After a dozen minutes, it let up and we could continue on stopping one last time to get a picture of the clouds clinging to the valleys along the BRP. It was quite the drive.

Rain is Imminent

Low Clouds After Storm

The next day we head to another very popular stop along the BRP. Price Lake is just a couple miles south of the Cone Estate we visited earlier. The 47 acre lake was created by the construction of a dam in 1958. There is a 2.2 mile trail that goes around the perimeter of the lake. There is also a campground and picnic area associated with Julian Price just across the BRP from the lake. We had picked a picture perfect day for the hike and started at the parking area near the dam. There is a steep path on the output side of the spillway to get a closer view of things. Little did we know at the time, but within a week there would be damage to the spillway and Price Lake would be draining - more on this in a future blog post.

Calm Waters of Price Lake

Price Lake Next to BRP

Water Flows Over Spillway

We arbitrarily took the trail in a clockwise direction. With less than 100 feet of elevation gain, it really wouldn’t matter. Most of the hike is close to the lake and there are plenty of openings in the tree cover to get a different view. It was early in the morning so the lake wasn’t too busy yet. A couple guys out fishing from a small boat. There was also a group of women out on stand up paddle boards near the far shore. Initially it wasn’t clear but we finally concluded they were doing SUP yoga.

Price Lake with Calloway Peak Shrouded in Clouds

View Along Trail

SUP Yoga

As we worked our way around the lake, we had a set of stairs to climb and a small bridge over one of the creeks that feeds the lake. As we came back around towards the BRP there was another parking lot near the boat rental place. This might be a fun thing to do later in our stay. The trail continues thru a small portion of the campground and amphitheater before coming back to our parking spot. It was an easy but enjoyable hike.

Boat Rental Dock

The town of Blowing Rock is close to both Price and Cone Parks. We headed there to check it out and try to find lunch. We did a short walk up and down Main Street. There are a couple very pretty stone churches along the way. We spotted a small sporting goods store and headed in to see what they had. I’ve been trying to get a replacement pair of hiking boots, but many of the stores like REI in Asheville have nearly no inventory. We saw they had one style I was interested in and asked if they had my size. Sure enough they did. Hard to believe a store with a footprint probably one tenth the size of REI in a very small town had what I wanted! Across the street we found a place to get lunch. As we were finishing up, we heard thunder and could see very dark clouds heading our way. When we arrived at camp, it was clear where the storm had been. The fields around camp had standing water and there was leaf debris all over the place. We talked with our neighbors and discovered just how bad it had been. They ended up having a damaged patio awning on their rig.

Blowing Rock Museum

Later that day we got a call from the company in Elkhart Indiana we had placed our furniture order with. We ordered around Thanksgiving and originally expected it to be available in April or May. We had even left our travel plans flexible to be able to go there when it was ready. So now in the middle of August it finally arrived! We set up to have it installed in early October after we finish our stay here in Pineola.