Sunday
Blue Ridge Parkway
The plan was to see the highest point in North Carolina--and, for that matter, the highest point in the entire Appalachian mountain range. It's an easy drive from Asheville; take Town Mountain Road to the Blue Ridge Parkway, then take the BRP to Mt. Mitchell state park. Only problem is, the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed for a large segment between Asheville and Mt. Mitchell due to a rock slide on the road which was being cleaned up/repaired. As a result, we were forced to approach Mt. Mitchell from the north side, rather than the south side. This involved going out I-40 east to Old Fort, then taking NC-80 (a treacherous switchback-ridden road) 12 miles to the Blue Ridge Parkway, drive the BRP 12 miles southwest, finally arriving at Mt. Mitchell State Park.
The
Blue Ridge Parkway is astonishingly scenic, BTW. I highly recommend touring it someday. I may be tempted to do a motorcycle tour of it at some point.
Mount Mitchell State Park
Mt. Mitchell is the highest point in the Appalachian mountains. Here you find the state park and the trail to the summit. The observation tower is being redone up top; the rangers there said it's due for completion by fall 2008. Regardless, we took the Balsam Nature Trail as far as it went, up to the construction area, and decided to trespass on the construction area to see the summit.
View from the top, in the construction area-
yeah, we were here-
Oh yeah, and there's a restaurant just down from the top which is, as they call themselves...-
Sassafras Mountain
This was a waste of gas. Sassafras Mountain is the highest point in South Carolina. As you can see from the pictures below, it's not very well maintained. Duke Power company owns the property of the mountain and provides public access to the summit in cooperation with the state. It looks like it hasn't been maintained for 20 years or more. Looks like someone decided to camp up top though
Nice sign-
obfuscated view-
And back to NC, thank god-
