With the in-laws out of town for the week and funds too low in the ole' bank account to go visit either of the birthday girls, I found myself with a lonely weekend ahead and a lot of time on my hands. Of course, I didn't want to neglect my training, but it was supposed to rain heavily all weekend, according to the weather reports, and I really thought I'd be stuck inside for the duration. So when Saturday morning dawned, not bright and clear, but at least dry, I jumped at the chance to go run. And run I did....5 miles, on hills, all over town. By the time I was done, it was only 12:30 and the sun had started shining.
That was all it took to get my blood stirred up for adventure. So with no plan in mind, I headed toward Roan Mtn, thinking to tackle the other peak I haven't yet conquered. But that requires walking through heavy...and at the moment, very soggy...woods. No...the closer I got, the more it sounded like a bad idea. So I just kept driving, and found myself a few minutes later, across the NC state line at Grandfather Mtn., which is also very close to the house. I've never actually been inside the park...the Highland Games are held outside it's gates, so there's never been a need. Today seemed like the perfect day to explore the mile-high swinging bridge that is suspended between its two craggy peaks. So I paid my money and headed up.
The road up is beautiful, with lots of views of the mountains...but by the time I drove the two miles to the summit, the peaks...and the bridge...were enshrouded in a dense cloud that only covered the summit. Craziest thing I'd ever seen. No views whatsoever, just dense fog. But I'd paid my money, so I was going over that bridge. Just as well...I have a massive fear of wide open spaces, and had I been able to see the abyss I was crossing over, I'd probably have fainted and fallen off, anyway.
The other side of the bridge is all massive rock formations that you have to climb over to get to the far edge of the peak. I picked a spot on a massive boulder to sit down, and watched the wind currents move wisps of the cloud around us, drawing it down the mountain. Occasionally, it would clear enough to be able to see the far edge of the cloud, and you could see that beyond it, the valley was clear as a bell. While I was up there, I happened to look down at my feet at one point, and noticed that I was standing over a geological survey pin that had been embedded in the rock at the peak of the summit. I thought it was cool, so I took a pic.
After about 20 minutes, the cloud got a lot thicker, so I decided it was time to go. Good thing...I barely made it back to the car before it started raining. It did stop long enough on the way down for me to make a stop at the wildlife museum and the habitats they have there, where they house bears, cougars, deer, river otters and eagles. It was great to be so close up to them....especially the bears. Made me feel a LOT better to see that they were about half the size my imagination had envisioned them as being. Even so...I don't want to meet one sans fence any time soon.Leaving the park, I hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed north, not really having any sort of destination in mind. By this time, the rain had turned into a real downpour and it had dampened my spirits enough to pull over at an overlook that any other time would have been breathtaking, and throw a real pity party for myself for about 10 minutes. All alone...in the pouring rain....nobody I know for hundreds of miles...no friends...no family...no birthday girls...no hubby. Waaahhhh!!!
Rain or no rain, ten minutes of that crap was enough. I got back on the road.
Not long after that, I ran out of the rain and found myself in Boone,NC, where I stopped for coffee and grabbed my map to regroup and form a plan. I decided to head north toward Mountain City,TN
, then cut across to the last little wide spot in the road in the far northeast corner of the state, known as Laurel Bloomery...if you want to look it up on a map. From there, I could head up to Damascus, VA, then back down into TN to Backbone Rock...a rock formation that boasts the 'shortest tunnel in the world'. I'll let you judge for yourself.The ride there was fabulous, and I do love the curvy mountain roads this time of year, when the woods are so lush with fresh green foilage...it just speaks peace to my soul, and despite my pity party of just an hour or so before, I relished the time alone with my thoughts to realign myself internally, as I had been doing externally that morning during my run.
Backbone Rock is set up as a recreational area, meaning that there are hiking trails across the top of it, and a spur that connects it to the Appalachian Trail, which winds all over the place up here. It also has a falls that you can hike up to, and I decided to tackle that, first. So across the road I went, and started climbing. The hiking trails are very well marked, so it wasn't hard to find, but there are a lot of steep areas and sharp drop offs where you really have
to watch your step. In some places, stone steps have been laid into the trail to help you navigate the steep areas, which lead to an air of ancientness once you've made your way to the grotto where the falls are. A beautiful area, with dense foliage all around, much of it is covered in rhododendron, which is native to the area and grows in abundance. Crossing over the top of the falls, you descend yet another stone stair to the bottom, where you can only stare in awe. Believe me when I tell you the pic does it no justice whatsoever. I really hated to leave the falls, but the rock was calling, and I really wanted to climb to the top, if I could, so I headed back to the road, and took a pic of the tunnel in the rock. The tunnel was originally carved to make way for the railroad, and had to fit the train's dimensions...but the smokestack was too high, so the extra little dip in the top is whe
re they chiseled out extra for the smokestack to fit through. The rock itself is only about 10 feet wide, which is why they say it's the shortest tunnel in the world, and it's probably about 30 to 40 feet high...quite a drop.Access to the top comes via more stone stairs embedded in the hillside, and they are truly works of art from
a bygone era...probably built during the Great Depression, unless I miss my guess. They do nothing to detract from the surrounding area...in fact, they only work to enhance it.Climbing to the top is an adventure and it's hard work, because the stairs are steep, for all that they are sturdy. But you are traversing a rock wall, meaning switchback city. Lots and lots of stairs...not for the out-of-shape. Thank God for all the training I've been doing. I actually fared fairly well, considering.
Once at the top of the stairs, you are standing...literally...on top of a wall. And it's a long way down, with no guardrails. 
Surprisingly, my vertigo never kicked in up there...only thing I can think of is that there were trees surrounding me...hence, no wide open spaces to speak of. Thank God.I walked all the way o
ut to the end of the rock, where Beaverdam Creek winds around it, and sat for a while, listening to the birdsong and the babble of the creek, and the quiet...and just soaked it all in, thinking how much Alan is gonna love this place. All too soon, it was time to go...again. 
So I headed south, along the road that has come to be known in these parts as the Twisted Snake. It is touted as being three miles long and having 487 curves. I think that might be stretching it juuuust a wee bit, but it IS one of the curviest, twistiest bits of road I've ever had the pleasure...and I do mean pleasure...of driving on. If you love driving, this is the road for you. Sheer mountain on one side of the road, nothing but air and treetops on the other. My mother in law won't go near it.
My final spur-of-the-moment stop of the day came at a spot known locally as the 'Blue Hole'. It's really another little grotto back down in a wooded area in the mountains, with a cascading waterfall nestled in the middle of it. And it is gorgeous. I've taken lots of pics of it, but you only get little bits of it that way, and to truly be able to appreciate this place, one must get it all at once...and that means in person.
More steep paths, much of it without benefit of stairs to help, but the steepest part that leads to the lower falls and the
'hole' itself does have a very steep set of wooden stairs down to it.The creek chutes through the rocks, forming a very concentrated stream, which flows over into a pool, and then another pool, before it crashes down farther over yet more rocks, and on into the forest. The lower of these two pics is the lower of these pools, and you can see by the color of the water in the pool how deep the hole must be in this natural swimming pool formed in the rock. The boulders in this place are monstrous. And there is an air of mystery that hangs about the place like no other I've ever known. To say it is magical is an understatement. There ar
e no words.I probably sat on a huge boulder in front of these falls for another 20 minutes or so, and would have stayed longer, but I was losing light, and needed to get back to the car before dark. So I left, with the promise to myself to come back soon...and often.
So there it is...my 3 state adventure. All in all, it took me about 8 hours to make the full circuit. I was not hurried, nor did I rush. I took my time, and savored all that nature was kind enough to give. And I relished the fact that after so many years of sucking smog, I am blessed to live in such a paradise. I can't wait to share this all with you guys...and with Alan.
...he's gonna love it here.
