Sunday morning, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to Moses Cone Memorial Park, arriving early enough to secure a legal parking spot near the visitor center.
On our last visit, they were doing construction, but it was now complete and Flat Top Manor was looking very nice.
From here, we got on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and hiked under the parkway.
Right past the tunnel, we turned right to get on Flat Top Road. There were nice views of Grandfather Mountain in the distance.
The trail switchbacked up through a forested section then came out in another open area.
A spur trail led out to the Cone Cemetery, the final resting place of Mr. Cone and his family.
Back on the main trail, it continued through the open area past bales of hay.
The trail started climbing up towards Flat Top and went back into the woods.
Numerous switchbacks made the climb up very reasonable and there were a number of spots with a break in the trees for a nice view.
Soon, we made it to the summit where there is an observation tower.
We took turns so Alex wouldn't have to climb but the views from the top were very nice. It was rather windy so neither one of us stayed up for very long.
The hike back down was very pleasant.
At the first split, we went left and hiked down to Trout Lake.
One more beautiful scene of fall foliage before we had to leave.
It was a quick hike back to the parking area, which was packed when we got back with plenty of cars illegally parked - a good time to head home.
We stopped in Wilkesboro at Dooleys for a nice late lunch and then made the drive home.
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