Back home in the Blue Ridge Mountains
I (Karen) had lived in North Carolina for about 12 years before moving to Kansas City for graduate school. My family and I would visit the North Carolina mountains just about every summer growing up. The Blue Ridge mountains hold a special place in my heart and feels like a home away from home. It had been about 4 years since I had been back to the mountains in NC and Brit had never been. We were overdue for a trip. Unfortunately, the reasons for heading back to North Carolina this year was due to attending a memorial for my grandmother who passed away the previous year. COVID had made it so majority of the family could not attend her funeral, so a belated memorial was planned. We drove from Kansas City to Winston Salem where the memorial took place.
On the way to Winston Salem, we made a detour and stopped at Smoky Mountain National Park for the afternoon. This is a free National Park to enter so it made it worth stopping in even if it was for a short time. The road traversing through the park was beautiful as we weaved through the tree lined road with a creek running alongside. Due to our timing, we only had time to get two shorter hikes in. Our first hike was Andrews Bald. At about 3.5 miles roundtrip, this hike takes you through dense forest before you open up to a vast meadow with views of the mountains. We definitely saw how the park got its name as we saw fog rolling through the mountains all afternoon.
Near the trailhead of Andrews Bald is the Clinman’s Dome Observation Tower, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains (6643’). There is a long concrete ramp that leads to the top of the observation tower. At the top you are rewarded with sweeping 360 views of the surrounding Smoky Mountains.
Our last stop in the Smokey’s was to see Mingo Falls. This waterfall is located just outside of the National Park on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. This is one of the tallest and most spectacular waterfalls in southern Appalachia. And with it only being 0.4 miles of hiking, it is definitely worth seeing.
We wished we had more time to explore this beautiful park. It will inspire future trips to explore this park more fully! That evening we continued on our way to Winston Salem for our family memorial. After our time in Winston Salem, we made our way to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. We stayed near Banner Elk, NC. We stayed with Karen’s family in an Airbnb. Our first day of exploring we headed over to Grandfather Mountain, the highest peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is a $15 fee for adults to enter this park.
One of the main attractions of Grandfather Mountain is the famous mile high swinging bridge sitting at 5280’ elevation. It can be rather intimidating to cross! But well worth it for the stunning views. Once you cross the bridge you can explore along the rocks to get even better views of the endless blue mountain ridges.
Grandfather has environmental habitats for black bears, river otters, cougars, eagles and elk. Viewing areas give you an up-close perspective of the animals.
We (Karen, Brit, Lamia and begrudgingly John) then challenged ourselves to the Grandfather trail. We’re crazy people and thought climbing ropes and ladders up steep mountains was the most splendid way we could spend our afternoon. Karen’s parents chose an easier walk at the base of Grandfather Mountain. This hike is nicknamed the “chutes and ladders” trail due to the many cable-assisted and ladders that you climb to navigate sheer rock faces throughout the hike. The Grandfather Trail takes you to Grandfather Mountain’s three peaks: MacRae Peak, Attic Window Peak and Calloway Peak. All three are within 1.5 miles of each other, but this is an in-and-out trail, so you choose to turn back at any point. We tuned at Attic Window and felt satisfied to turn at this point. Be aware that if you decide to do this hike in a single day, you’ll need to be back by the time the parking lot closes. The ladders were very intimidating as you look off to your side and see the sheer cliff drop off below you. The ladders are secure, but you need to make sure you are careful and go slow as you are very close to the edge of a mountain. This hike requires a lot of mental and physical strength to conquer the ladders and ropes. I am not normally one to be scared of heights or physical challenges, but this hike made my hands sweaty and heart racing as we one by one went up the ladders. So if heights and ladders aren’t your thing this trail is probably not for you. Once we made it to the top the views were absolutely spectacular and well worth the scariness of the ladders. After enjoying the views, we had to complete the just as challenging and scary trek back down the ladders and cables. Once we were back to the parking lot we felt very thankful and accomplished!
We recovered the next day by winding down in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. This was one of our favorite towns to visit growing up. This a beautiful mountain town with lots of shops and restaurants to explore. We found a hike right off of the main street of Blowing Rock that was not quite as extreme as our Grandfather Mountain adventures.
We also stopped off at Otter Falls near Seven Devils North Carolina. This is about a 1.2 mile hike round trip. It is a pretty steep descent to the waterfall so even though it was short it was not the easiest!
As the rest of the family were all “hiked out'" for the trip, Brit and I were still feeling crazy and somehow still had more energy and wanted a little more adventure. We ventured to a hike called Rough ridge off of the blue ridge parkway. This trail takes you through rocky paths surrounded by arching rhododendrons and pines before it opens up to a boardwalk with vast views of the mountains. From the viewpoints you can spot Grandfather as well as Grandmother Mountain. As we reached the summit of this hike sunset was approaching and we could hear distant rumbling of thunder as a storm was rolling in. As we were surrounded by the beautiful mountains and the cozy sounds of thunder and distant rainfall we felt very at peace. This was a beautiful moment to end our adventures in North Carolina, until next time.
Our last day in the mountains the group rallied for one last mountain adventure to Linville Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Linville Falls drops 90ft into the Linville Gorge. There are several different hikes and viewpoints in the Linville falls areas. All are relatively easy hikes.
It was great being back in North Carolina and seeing some of my old stomping ground. The Blue Ridge Parkway is hands down my favorite part of North Carolina filled with so many amazing views and hiking spots. I’m already looking forward to future trips back!