Whiteside Mountain is a Mecca for hikers and climbers. We give it five paws! It’s located deep within the heart of the Nantahala National Forest and is one of the most beautiful places I have been in a long time.

The trail is located just off Highway 64 between Highlands and Cashiers. It’s clearly marked and part of it is an old logging road, which was also once used to shuttle visitors to the top of the mountain.

Views from the 4,930 foot summit are fantastic. The overlooks (there are several) offer 210 degree views of the surrounding mountains.

Pastor David told me about this hike and said it was one of his favorites. It is about a mile to the top, and after about a half mile of mile walking along the cliffs, it begins to  descent.

Along the way, you pass lots of wire barriers. The trail is super close to the edge of the cliffs so crossing over these would definitely not be a good idea.

One guy said the climb to the top was a “leisure stroll.” But for some reason, it felt a lot tougher for me on last Sunday. I’ll go back and give it another try but probably will wait until fall. This area in fall is just “over the top” gorgeous any time of the year.

Some of the cliffs are 700 feet though almost 1000 feet of climbing is required when you include all of the traverses on the route. Hey—I read those facts; I’m not a rock climber. But we did run into at least three groups of climbers—one leaving and two at the summit.

Some of the pathway is very tight and within inches of the side of the mountain.

And then there are the many steps taking you down and back to the car.

I love the first hours of the day—when everything seems so gentle and unhurried. Next to that I love the time in and around sunset when Whippoorwills gather by the lake and life seems so simple once again. It’s the time for friendships, good conversations, and remembering what matters the most.

Amen, Willis!

 I had someone last week ask me if I had read Zane Grey and I said, “No. Not yet.” I remembered that Jan Karen had read Zane Grey’s novels and often had her lead character Father Tim engrossed in a Zane Grey novel but had never picked one up. I love old books so yesterday when I saw an abandoned collection of his first editions, I could hardly resist. But I still didn’t know if these books would be good additions to Chip’s Jack London collection. Would the dogs like them? Would they enjoy hearing stories written in the early 1900′s about cowboys, horses, and the wild west?

I decided to purchase only one of the many available. The one I bought was titled Wildfire and after reading the opening paragraph, I was hooked and knew this new story would definitely stir the imaginations of both Chip and Cocoa Joy. Here’s just a few lines, “For some reason the desert scene before Lucy Bostil awoke varying emotions—a sweet gratitude for the fullness of her life there at the Ford, yet a haunting remorse that she could not be wholly content—a vague loneliness of soul—a thrill and a fear for the strangely calling future, glorious, unknown. She longed for something to happen. It might be terrible, so long as it was wonderful.

“This day, when Lucy had stolen away on a forbidden horse, she was eighteen years old. . . .” Oh, yea, they are going to like this book!

Dear Mrs. Anaya (the only other person on the planet who shares my love for antique chairs), I saw this one yesterday and thought I could not leave without it. But I did, I walked away.

Everywhere I turned there was another row or chairs. The ones on the left were in a group. The one across from them looked lonely. The two behind this group were a pair and the ones against the wall once belonged to a larger group and then there was the desk chair and the one behind the desk in this photo they were chairs with purposes.

There were chairs everywhere. These were very old and very expensive.

These two were orphan chairs. Pure and simple. Chances are no one will want to take them home. Even I moved on, I still could not forget the first chair. I drove away but I wondered who once had owned it? Who had shaped its pointed back and thick cane bottom? Soon, I found that I could not forget it. So today I drove back and . . .

I bought it!