Today dawned grey and overcast but not raining. So I went for a run, at least until a dog defended the far side of a bridge against me and with memories of an evening misspent in the Fannon County Regional Medical Center due to a dachshund bite I turned tail and bravely ran away.
By the time we set off for Blowing Rock the sun was shining and blue sky outnumbered clouds. What a difference a day makes. What a difference great weather makes. What never seems to change is everyday we drive through Spruce Pine. At least we were on a different stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway today – alongside Grandfather Mountain.
When we stopped at Price Lake to admire the view we decided to take the 2.3 mile loop trail since it shouldn’t take longer than 45 minutes. Why bother putting our hiking boots on, the trail just goes around a lake, not up a mountainside. Somehow we forgot what happens after days of rain culminating in one final day of deluge so it took over an hour as we were delayed by avoiding all the muck and flooded parts of the trail.
We had a nice lunch and strolled around the touristy part of Blowing Rock and forgot all about muck. We bought a tri-scented candle we were assured would burn for 150 hours. I’m a little bit more of a record keeper than the average bear but I think I’ll just take their word for it. By the time we split a piece of cheesecake I forgot all about yesterday’s rain too.
And then it was time to leave before our full bellies put us to sleep. So we headed back down the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Rough Ridge trailhead. This time we put the waterproof hiking boots on and we were glad we did. There was a waterfall right at the parking lot and the trail itself was a stream flowing down the mountain. The trail’s claim to fame are two pride rock overlooks and then a view from the crest of the ridge into the valley opposite the trail head. We decided the view into the other valley wouldn’t be materially different than the valley we were already looking at so we turned around at the second overlook.
One the way home we followed a semi for miles. Normally I’m a trifle unhappy when stuck behind one but we were amazed at how fast he could take even the tightest curves and just the skill of his two lane mountain driving. When we got back to the Airbnb we sat out on the deck until the sun got too hot. Today really was a special day.
