High Adventure in the Mountains

My friends have not been to the mountains of North Carolina, so we thought it would be fun to go when the leaves were changing. It would also be a nice contrast to the beach camping trip we took over Labor Day. Since my sister lived in Boone, I wanted to go back there because I was familiar with some fun things to do, and I also hadn't gotten to do some other things yet.
We headed out Friday Oct 25, and drove straight into a rain storm. At least we got cook-out shakes on the road.

Setting up tents in the rain is not fun. And it meant the tents were pretty wet inside..... ok, there was a river on one side of the tent! So we went out to buy more tarps and towels to try to make it bearable. It did stop raining in the morning, but the ground was very soggy. Lucky for us, the campground had a laundry so we could dry out the sleeping bags and clothes that were wet. We enjoyed some pancakes for breakfast, and then got on the road. First stop: Linville Caverns. It was really cool to walk through the caverns, and we got to see a bat. Then we went to Grandfather Mountain and had a picnic. It was gorgeous and sunny. We saw the bears and eagles.



Then we hiked up to the Mile High Swinging Bridge. As we were hiking, clouds started flowing down the mountain. It was a really cool effect, but when we got to the top, it was covered in clouds, so we couldn't see the view. But we did walk across the swinging bridge, and it really does swing! As we walked down the mountain, we realized that the clouds were the rainy dreary kind, and they were there to stay. This dropped the temperature, and meant we spent 4 hours trying to get a fire going to cook our foil dinners. Once the fire was going, it was warm, but we were damp and hungry. That night was pretty cold, so I slept in the car to try to avoid freezing. When I bought my sleeping bag, I was thinking of hot girls camp camping, so it is only good at 40 F, not in the 30's :) Sunday we went to church, and as we were walking out, someone said, whoa, I smell campfire! Apparently showering didn't help our coats, which were still smokey. As we took down camp, we realized how much water was in the tents.... yuck! Then we went to the Moses Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hiked around the lake. It was a pretty sunny afternoon, and the leaves were crunchy under our feet. Then we drove to see the Viaduct, and headed home.

We stopped at my friends house in Greensboro for dinner. It was fun to see her, and her cute little girl.

Bottom Line: Boone is awesome, Cook-out shakes are awesome, my friends are awesome, and camping in the cold and rain is not something I want to do again.