Craggy Gardens MST Hike

Saturday morning, we woke up and had breakfast at camp then followed the detour to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway heading south.  We made a stop at Three Knobs Overlook for a nice morning view of the Black Mountains.

Then we continued a short ways to Crabtree Falls Recreation Area and parked at the trailhead next to the closed restaurant.  We followed the trail through the campground and then headed down to Crabtree Falls.

The light was shining right on it, so hard to get a good picture, but it's a really beautiful waterfall.

I got some close-up shots to avoid the poor lighting as much as possible.

Since it didn't look like any clouds were coming, we continued on.  The trail headed up steeply via switchbacks and then leveled off.  There was a nice cascade on Big Crabtree Creek a little ways above the waterfall.

The trail continued following the creek for a while, then headed back to up the campground where we finished the loop.

Continuing south on the parkway, we made a stop at Bald Knob Parking Area (though the sign said Laurel Knob Overlook) for a nice view of Bald Knob Ridge and the Black Mountains.

Then we continued to View Glassmine Falls so Alex could do another hike for #MST40hikes.

From the overlook, we could see Glassmine Falls, but there was no water flowing at all.

Heading westbound on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, we passed through some woods and then along the parkway.  In about a mile, we passed through a beautiful heath bald.

The views from here were really beautiful.

There was a nice view of Glassmine Falls, probably better than the overlook.

Passing through this open area, a number of wildflowers were blooming including some beautiful purple fringed orchids.

Soon, we came to Lunch Rock.

Going behind the rock, we could scramble up to the top for fantastic views.  We had lunch up here.

Scrambling back down was a little tricky for Alex and he needed some help.  Back on the trail, we skirted Bullhead Mountain and then headed back down towards the parkway.  There was a really cool tree along the trail.

The hike ended at the View Graybeard Mountain Overlook near Craggy Dome.  The 6k peak was in the clouds.

But the views from the overlook were really nice.

This was our turnaround point and we headed back with one more quick stop at the heath balds.

Then we made it back to the car at Glassmine Falls Overlook.

Since we were close by, we made a stop at Craggy Gardens at the trailhead for Craggy Pinnacle.  The clouds had rolled in, but we hiked the trail since we were here.  There are some great gnarled trees along the trail.

The rhododendron weren't flowering but there were some mountain laurel in bloom.

When we got to the summit, it was in the clouds and there were no views at all.

We went to the lower overlook but just as cloudy so we headed back to the car.

Driving back along the parkway, we stopped at several overlooks.  First we made a quick stop at Green Knob Overlook.

Then we stopped at View Mount Mitchell.  The Black Mountains were visible but the summits were hidden behind the clouds.

We continued northbound for a ways and made a stop at Deerlick Gap Overlook.

Then we stopped at The Loop Overlook with a view of the Altavista orchard below.

We made one final stop at Bear Den Overlook.

We got off the parkway at the detour and got dinner in Newland then headed back.  Before heading to camp, we parked at the visitor center for Linville Falls for a short evening hike.  We started down along the Erwins View Trail, crossing the river on a big bridge.

In about a half-mile we went to the Upper Falls Overlook for Linville Falls.

The upper twin drops were looking nice in the evening light.

I got some pictures, while Alex took a break.  Glad I got some pictures here.

We next went to Chimney View but the shine was right over the waterfall so no way to get a picture.  The view looking downstream into the gorge was nice thought.

We also went to Erwin's View put the sunlight was just as bad, so we headed back.

It was a just a mile back to camp and we built a nice big fire for our last night camping.

Labor Day Waterfalls

Monday morning, we woke up and broke camp. After breakfast, we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway from NC-181 and starting heading southbound towards Crabtree Falls.

About half-way there, we made a quick stop for pictures from Heffner Gap Overlook and then proceeded to Crabtree Falls. Sadly, the campground was closed as well as all the other amenities, likely due to budget cuts. It's a shame as this is a really nice campground and a beautiful area. We parked outside the gate near the closed visitor center and had to hike in to the trailhead. The extra quarter-mile walk to the trailhead was worth it, though, as we walked through a beautiful wildflower meadow just past the amphitheater heading to the campground.

At the campground, we got on the Crabtree Falls Trail and turned right at the junction to hike the loop in the counterclockwise direction. This is the shorter and steeper route to the falls with the more gradual hike back to finish up the loop. The trail heads steeply down to the base of the falls through a number of switchbacks and stairs. We headed down quickly, passing several groups so we could make it to the falls before anyone else. That gave me a good opportunity to climb up on the rocks and set up the tripod to get some nice pictures of the waterfall before the crowds arrived.

This 70-foot cascading waterfall is absolutely beautiful; certainly one of the most photogenic waterfalls along the parking and I was able to get some great pictures.

Sandy was waiting on a bench and talked to a nice older gentleman who was visiting the falls while his wife was out of town. She thought the hike was too strenuous and didn’t approve of him going, so he waited for her to go out of town before visiting.

Once the crowds started to arrive and we had gotten enough pictures, we continued on, climbing more stairs and then headed upstream along Crabtree Creek. I stopped at one point to scramble down to the creek and see a really pretty cascade a short ways upstream of the waterfall.

After the initial climb up, the hike was a nice scenic stroll along the creek we saw a large number of blooming wildflowers along the way.

It's about 1.5 miles heading back this way and before we knew it, we had finished off the loop and headed back to our car.

From Crabtree Falls, we continued south on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few more miles, getting off at NC-80 and heading towards Black Mountain Campground in the Appalachian Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest. We turned off NC-80 onto South Toe River Road and made an immediate left and parked outside the Busick Work Center. Walking past the gate, we got on Roaring Fork Falls Trail (#195), which is also Forest Service Road 5520. It's only about half a mile along the forest road to the falls. At a bridge across Roaring Fork, we turned right just before the bridge on a short path that leads to the waterfall. The entire thing is probably at least 100 feet of cascades tumbling down, but it’s hard to get a picture of the entire thing.

Of course that doesn't mean I can't try. I hopped around onto various rocks and boulders at the base of the falls to get pictures from different angles. Then we hiked back to the car and continued on South Toe River Road to Black Mountain Campground, parking just outside. We hiked across the vehicle bridge over the river into the campground and got on Setrock Creek Falls Trail (#197). It's a short and easy trail, maybe a quarter-mile, to the waterfall. The waterfall is probably about 75 feet high and its a nice tiered waterfall.

Today, however, the water flow was pretty low and so the waterfall wasn’t that impressive. I had visited before in the spring when the flow was higher and the waterfall looked a lot nicer. We got a couple pictures and then started making our way back. I pointed out to Sandy the very steep path leading up Mount Mitchell. There is a power line right-of-way going straight up the mountain and I remembered crossing that on the trail up. It really puts the elevation gain of North Carolina's highest mountain in perspective. Leaving the area, we headed south on NC-80 to get on I-40 near Marion. Unfortunately, there was an accident blocking the road and we had to make a detour that took almost an hour. We were both very hungry at this point and determined to make it to Las Salsas in Morganton. Finally, we arrived and had an enormous portion of chicken fajitas, with plenty leftover to bring home - my dinner for the next couple of days.