For the holiday weekend, we took Alex out to Boone to finish the State Parks passport challenge. First, we stopped at the interim park office for Grandfather Mountain State Park to get his passport stamped.
Then we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at Boone Fork parking area. Here, we took Tanawha Trail to Daniel Boone Scout Trail and started hiking up the mountain. There wasn't much snow at first, but some little ice formations were popping out of the ground.
In about 1.5 miles, we came to Flat Rock View.
Scrambling out on the rocks, there were great views from here.
We stopped and had a snack up here and took a short break before the climbing really started.
Continuing on, the trail got steeper and there were some nice icicles along the trail.
The trail was pretty icy and there was a dusting of snow, but not as much as we hoped.
Near the summit, we came to the ladders.
It was tricky getting Alex up this part, but he's a good rock climber. Soon we got to the summit of Calloway Peak, the highest point on Grandfather Mountain.
The views from up here were great. There was rime ice on the north-facing portion of the summit.
I continued on to Watauga View with more great views, including Sugar Mountain.
We had lunch at the summit then started making our way back down. At Flat Rock, we turned on Cragway Trail to make a loop going back.
There were cool views from Top Crag and we could see Calloway Peak towering above.
The trail was rocky, but at least we were heading downhill.
Where the trail ended, a turn on Nuwati Trail led back to Tanawha Trail. At Boone Fork, we made a turn on Asutsi Trail and hiked below the parkway. At the trailhead on US-221, we turned right along the road a short ways to Green Mountain Falls.
The water level was high and there were a bunch of icicles along the waterfall. There was also a lower section below the road that was quite scenic.
It was visible from the road and I scrambled down to the base for a view straight on.
After some picture, we hiked back Asutsi Trail and Tanawha Trail. Boone Fork was scenic as we crossed on the footbridge.
It was just a short ways further back to the car.
On the way to Boone, we called in a pizza at Mellow Mushroom then checked into the Quality Inn. We brought the pizza back to the room for dinner then went to bed early.
Then we headed up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at Boone Fork parking area. Here, we took Tanawha Trail to Daniel Boone Scout Trail and started hiking up the mountain. There wasn't much snow at first, but some little ice formations were popping out of the ground.
In about 1.5 miles, we came to Flat Rock View.
Scrambling out on the rocks, there were great views from here.
We stopped and had a snack up here and took a short break before the climbing really started.
Continuing on, the trail got steeper and there were some nice icicles along the trail.
The trail was pretty icy and there was a dusting of snow, but not as much as we hoped.
Near the summit, we came to the ladders.
It was tricky getting Alex up this part, but he's a good rock climber. Soon we got to the summit of Calloway Peak, the highest point on Grandfather Mountain.
The views from up here were great. There was rime ice on the north-facing portion of the summit.
I continued on to Watauga View with more great views, including Sugar Mountain.
We had lunch at the summit then started making our way back down. At Flat Rock, we turned on Cragway Trail to make a loop going back.
There were cool views from Top Crag and we could see Calloway Peak towering above.
The trail was rocky, but at least we were heading downhill.
Where the trail ended, a turn on Nuwati Trail led back to Tanawha Trail. At Boone Fork, we made a turn on Asutsi Trail and hiked below the parkway. At the trailhead on US-221, we turned right along the road a short ways to Green Mountain Falls.
The water level was high and there were a bunch of icicles along the waterfall. There was also a lower section below the road that was quite scenic.
It was visible from the road and I scrambled down to the base for a view straight on.
After some picture, we hiked back Asutsi Trail and Tanawha Trail. Boone Fork was scenic as we crossed on the footbridge.
It was just a short ways further back to the car.
On the way to Boone, we called in a pizza at Mellow Mushroom then checked into the Quality Inn. We brought the pizza back to the room for dinner then went to bed early.
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