Biscuit's Mountain Adventures

[Darth Biscuit]

Went to the NC Mountains last week and had a blast...  Philly b inspired me to photo document it...

 

Most of these were taken by my son on his nice camera, but some were me with my phone...

 

 

Monday we went Zip Lining at Hawk's Nest...

 

What a blast!  My wife cried on the first line and was gung ho after that... and we had to make Granny do every line, she wanted to until we got up there...  lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Went to Grandfather Mnt Tuesday, hiked the Grandfather trail...

 

 

 

 

 

and goofed around the mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't believe that they let people climb up McRae's Peak like that... seems awfully dangerous, but fun...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday we went horseback riding... and despite the mud and my oldest son's horse slipping and falling on him, we had a blast...

 

 

Even Granny had fun...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday we drove down the parkway about 30 miles in the fog and did the hike down to Crabtree Falls.  What a beautiful hike and excellent waterfall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday we left and went down Hwy 321 and hit all the antique stores down to I-40 to let my wife get her shop on.  This was also after we hit the various Mast General stores, bought $35 worth of candy and hit all the other stores in Blowing Rock and downtown Boone during the week.

 

 

 

 

Eating:

 

Man they've got some awesome food up that way.  We had an excellent lunch on Tuesday at the Boone Bagelry, a fantastic lunch on Wednesday at 1861 Farm House in Valle Crucis, and another great lunch at the Switzerland Cafe in Little Switzerland on Thursday.  Mountain people know how to cook.

 

 

 

 

As a flatlander all my life, I think I want to move up there.  We stayed on Sugar Mnt and the highest the temp got was 75 during the day.  No A/C and left the windows open the entire time.  Not sure how I would like the winter up there... but I'm willing to give it a try.

 

 

If anybody lives in the Banner Elk/Sugar Mnt/Seven Devils area and wants to talk about a summer time house swap, get up with me... we live about 10 minutes from the beaches in Wilmington/Carolina Beach on the coast.

 

 

 

The only negative now is that in all the hiking, my oldest got the poison ivy... so now he's suffering with that... :(

 

 

[Mayor Qumiby]

Looks like you guys had a blast..I love that area of NC

[The Pieyed Piper]

I see good places to get stoned. You did?

[Darth Biscuit]

I see good places to get stoned. You did?

 

Stoned, as it hitting the actual stones... yes my youngest did that once...  about broke his wrist...  

 

Otherwise... no.

[Cat]

Looks like a fun family time.

[Joscott]

Cool pictures, looks like it was a pretty fun trip, glad you had a good time.

And yes, coming from Blacksburg to Wilmington, it's hot and humid. but I do not miss when those cold winds pick up in the winter...cuts right through you.

Now get back in the gym!

[CardiacCats]

Hope to be going to college there next fall

[Darth Biscuit]

Cool pictures, looks like it was a pretty fun trip, glad you had a good time.

And yes, coming from Blacksburg to Wilmington, it's hot and humid. but I do not miss when those cold winds pick up in the winter...cuts right through you.

Now get back in the gym!

 

Yeah... I went in Saturday about 10AM and thought I'd see you but didn't.  You went earlier right?  :p

 

We got home Friday just in time to catch the game and I meant to text you but forgot.

 

 

Hope to be going to college there next fall

 

I think my son is actually considering App now that we've been up there.  He's a senior this year.

[CardiacCats]

Yeah... I went in Saturday about 10AM and thought I'd see you but didn't. You went earlier right? :p

We got home Friday just in time to catch the game and I meant to text you but forgot.

I think my son is actually considering App now that we've been up there. He's a senior this year.

nice yeah it's an awesome school

[Joscott]

Yeah... I went in Saturday about 10AM and thought I'd see you but didn't. You went earlier right? :p

We got home Friday just in time to catch the game and I meant to text you but I forgot

I went in in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday. Making those gains in the afternoon.

[Darth Biscuit]

I went in in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday. Making those gains in the afternoon.

 

I hear you...

 

We'll get back together this weekend hopefully...  doing back today.  Probably be crowded... :(

 

But you know what that means... :)

[Niner National]

The mountains of NC are really an amazing place. 

 

It houses one of the few temperate rain forests in the world (in the Transylvania County area). It has high peaks (by east coast standards) with micro-climates above 5,000 feet in elevation as well as in the valleys of the Jocassee Gorge. It has areas that get 100+ inches of snow per year and areas that get ~100 inches of rain per year. It has areas where the average summer time high does not eclipse 80 degrees. There are some really incredible hikes and absolutely stunning drives on the parkway and other mountain roads.

 

There are great unique towns with excellent eateries, tons of breweries, and a lot of wineries.

 

It's my favorite part of the state.

 

I was in Asheville yesterday. In Asheville it was 85ish degrees. I drove up about 10 miles on the parkway and it was 66 degrees, and I was still about 1500-1700 feet below the highest point on the parkway.

 

On any given day in the summer, Mount Mitchell rarely gets out of the 60's and 50's are common.

 

An immense amount of diversity in a fairly small geographic area. We should all consider ourselves fortunate to have such an area so easily accessible.

[Darth Biscuit]

It never got above 75 at our condo on Sugar Mnt the entire week... it barely got above 85 in Boone.  It was awesome.  At the top of Grandfather at about 2PM it was about 66.

 

 

I went home for lunch here today and it was 96, and we're less than 3 miles from the ocean... I can't imagine what you poor schlubs in the Piedmont feel like... bleh.

[Jangler]

90 feels like 96 dew point is 70 and 52% humidity, but that will go up the rest of the day and it will be a nasty wet night....twss