Linville Falls in High Water

Sunday, we checked out and headed back towards Linville Gorge.  Our plan was to hike to Babel Tower, another of Alex's favorite hikes.  We drove a ways down Kistler Memorial Highway, but about a mile before the trailhead, it was totally washed out.  A 4WD with high clearance is needed until the road is fixed.  So we turned around and stopped at Linville Falls.  After putting Harper in the carrier, we hiked around Duggers Creek Trail.

The water level was high and the Duggers Creek Falls looked nice in the morning light.

I took off my shoes and waded under the bridge for a nice picture.

We finished the short loop back at the parking lot and put Harper in the stroller to head down the main trail to Linville Falls, which was mostly stroller friendly except for some steps near the overlooks.

There were some nice wildflowers blooming along the trail.

The first overlook we came to was for the Upper Falls View, but I didn't have much luck with clouds to block out the bright sun.

We had a little more luck with some cloud cover at Chimney View.

Then we headed out to the end with a quick stop at Linville Gorge View as more clouds rolled in.

The waterfall was looking nice from Erwins View, the furthest overlook from the waterfall.

After some pictures, we headed back.

From here, we headed north on the parkway and made a stop at Beacon Heights, but it was too cloudy for a view.  So we continued to Boone and had Greek for lunch at Booneshine and then headed home.

Cragway Fall Foliage Hike

Saturday, we headed back out to the mountains for some more fall foliage.  We headed west towards Boone and got to the Blue Ridge Parkway right around sunrise.  We made a quick stop at Stony Fork Overlook to watch.

We made another stop a short ways further at View Osborne Mountain.

Driving further southbound, we made one more quick stop at Price Lake.

The fall color was just beautiful and there was steam rising off the lake on this chilly morning.

After a couple pictures, we continued on to Boone Fork Parking to hike into Grandfather Mountain State Park.  We took Tanawha Trail to Daniel Boone Scout Trail and started heading up.  The first part isn't too steep and it was pleasantly cold.  In about 1.5 miles, we made it to Flat Rock View and enjoyed the nice views here.

Here we got on Cragway Trail and started heading down.  About half-way down the trail, we came to the fantastic Top Crag View.

The fall color was just about peak and the panoramic views were really phenomenal.

I think this has been the best fall color we've had in several years.

When we first arrived, we had the overlook to ourselves but soon some backpackers showed up so we continued on.

There were a number of other rocky crags along the trail to climb up and enjoy the view, though none could beat Top Crag.

Cragway Trail ended at Nuwati Trail along Boone Fork.  There were some bottle gentians blooming here.

A left turn on Nuwati Trail led just under a mile to Storyteller's Rock and one last beautiful view in the park.

Then we took Nuwati Trail back to Tanawha Trail and the Boone Fork parking area.

It was still early enough so we continued on the parkway.  The traffic was like RTP in rush hour, but at least we could enjoy the views around Lynn Cove Viaduct.  We continued to Linville Falls, where not surprisingly, parking was a mess, but we caught someone leaving and took their spot.  We took Duggers Creek Trail to Linville Gorge Trail and headed out to the Plunge Basin Overlook for a view of Linville Falls.

The lighting wasn't great, but the falls were beautiful surrounded by fall color.  It was rather crowded so we didn't stay long.  On the way back, we stopped at Duggers Creek at a less crowded spot below some scenic little cascades.

A rhododendron had fallen and blocked the view of the waterfall, but the little cascades were very pretty.

After a nice break, we got out of there.

Heading back northbound on the parkway, we made a couple stops along the way.  First we stopped at Camp Creek Overlook.  There is no view here, but the fall foliage was really pretty.

A short fisherman's path led down to Camp Creek.

Our next stop was at Stack Rock Parking Area.  We had to walk a short ways up the road for a very nice view.

In the direction, we could see Grandfather Mountain and the swinging bridge.

Driving on, we made another stop at View Wilson Creek Valley.

Walking up the road to Boulder Field Overlook, we had another view of Grandfather Mountain.

Finally, we made one last stop at Sims Pond Overlook.

From here, we headed to Boone for dinner at Booneshine.  It was very busy and a wait for the restaurant, so we got barbecue and drinks from the food truck and ate outside with Alex.  He made friends with another dog named Gracie.  After dinner, we checked into the Quality Inn and retired for the evening.

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.