THE CALLISON’S JOINED US for the weekend in North Carolina, a good deal of Tree Felling in the boys’ futures, a good bit of porch sitting in ours. And although it is against my mountain religion to drive off this ridge (but for an emergency), we were going to be here for four full days. So I opened my heart to the possibility of a Saturday jaunt to Mount Mitchell.
A little road trip could be fun, I thought, particularly if the result was a mountain view even more spectacular than our current 5200 foot elevation.
And then I learned it was also The Old Timey Fall Festival on the town square in Burnsville. That made it a Done Deal.
you can see why i was so excited
Of course Leslie and Scott were game. So Saturday morning we loaded up the dogs, the people, and the trash* and we pointed the 4-Runner for Burnsville.
That festival did not disappoint.
AND THEN WE STARTED the climb to Mount Mitchell. It was a beautiful drive that took us along the Cane River, the South Toe River and up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. In no time at all we were unloading our crew at Mount Mitchell and making the short hike to the top.
Oh, those views.
Mount Mitchell is the highest spot East of the Mississippi, and its peak just happens to be in sight from the back deck of our place. We’ve spent hours sitting there looking across at it, discussing the weather, wondering whether or not a person standing there could see our house and meadow here.
With binoculars, we could. (That was pretty cool.)
our little slice of heaven, on the middle ridge between the pines
Then we hopped back on the Blue Ridge Parkway and continued in the other direction, eventually taking a (planned) Forest Service Road shortcut that offered a pretty–if slightly unnerving–path down.
It was a perfect day with dear, dear friends, a perfect way to officially move from the fun of Summer to the fun of Fall.
Yay!
Cinder and Little Bit: Sweet traveling buddies
30 Days of Fun
*Needless to say there’s no trash pickup on the mountains so a trip to the dump is cause for rejoicing
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Cinder has slept & slept & slept since she left that mountain. Such fun!!!
Little Bit misses Cinder. So do we!