Day 33 – Craggy Clambering, Blue Ridge Nuptials, Appalachian Bobsledding – May 25, 2018

Up early this morning, we planned to hike and bike sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. George and Roxanne’s favorite road to the parkway was closed due to winter storm damage (Stony Fork), so we went the alternate route through the Paint Fork roads. We gained elevation and emerged on the parkway to a scene of early spring foliage. Most of the hardwood trees had new, light green leaves and had yet to fill out completely. This made a great contrast with the dark green of the balsam pines as we climbed up to the Craggy Garden area at approximately 5800 ft. elevation. We were up in the clouds and the mist and it was a welcome break from some of the heat we’d experienced over the past few weeks. In fact, it was almost cold at 59 degrees.

Joining us for all our adventures with George and Roxanne is George's dog, Zone (George can give a better explanation for the name, but suffice to say, it's an Ansel Adams reference). Zone is the perfect companion: she goes canoeing, paddle boarding, hiking and does just about anything George does. She really loves running through the forest, and today she was really in her 'zone'.

First stop was Craggy Garden, where we took (in George’s words) a ‘short’ two mile hike that went straight uphill for the first mile. The trail is covered with Rhododendron plants that form almost a canopy. Lots of ferns and new grass made this a striking scene of greenery. Karen did a great job on the hike and George and Roxanne were most helpful motivators in this regard.

After a brief stop at the Craggy Gardens visitor center, we drove to Mt. Mitchell State Park. Mt. Mitchell has the distinction of being the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6684 ft. elevation. It was time for lunch, so we had a picnic at the peak and watched the ever-changing vistas. The clouds were moving through so fast that we were completely socked-in with fog one moment, and the next we could see for miles in all directions. 

George and I planned to ride George and Roxanne’s high-tech tandem bicycle down the road from the top of Mt. Mitchell to the parkway. So, after lunch we unloaded the bike and prepared for adventure and excitement.

This is a very steep and windy road, and the only person with any control of the bike is the one on the front. There are no brakes for the rear rider. In fact, all you really are is ballast for the ride down. I don’t know what it’s like to ride in a bobsled, but I can tell you it’s pretty thrilling to barrel down a highway at 40 mph without seeing anything directly ahead of you and trusting your pilot to get you down in one piece. That 11 minute ride (about 4 miles) was over pretty quickly. Karen and Roxanne were in the car following us and acted as a support vehicle during our descent. At the bottom, I pried my hands off the handlebars and we loaded the bike up for our trip to Craggy Peak.

 

The trail to Craggy Peak is (again, in George’s words) a short little hike to the summit. Ask Karen how short and how steep this was. The stone stair steps can give you a clue. At the trailhead there was a wedding just beginning. A small group of celebrants had gathered in the afternoon mist to witness the marriage of two of their friends. The bride was dressed in full white  bridal regalia (with hiking shoes, of course) and the groom had his suit and tie. We ran into them on our return from the summit and learned that they were from Winston-Salem, NC and had never been to this part of the parkway, but had always wanted to be married here. It’s not every day you encounter a wedding party on the hiking trails.

George and I got back on the tandem to ride from Craggy Peak down the parkway to the turnoff for Weaverville. This 11 mile ride took us through several of the tunnels carved into the mountain and through many of the serpentine curves that are a hallmark of the Blue Ridge Parkway. With most of my adrenaline expended, we hopped off the bike and hoisted it onto the rack for the ride back to camp. Happy Hour tonight will be both medicinal and recreational.

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