A trip to Oconaluftee is always fun. It's all about getting away and enjoying the lifestyle of the mountains. This area borders Cherokee, NC, home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. A little history about this nation within a nation— "The Cherokee were hunters and gatherers, foraging the Great Smoky Mountains and the lowlands [...]
"Graveyard Fields" is one of my favorite destinations. This unusually flat 5000 foot high valley is adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and next to and below Black Balsam. It has plenty of open views, at least two waterfalls, and wide variety of hiking trails. The Mountain to Sea trail runs through this valley. This [...]
The Rufus Morgan Falls trail is really special. You have to visit this area! We found this trail on All Trails and it was a super surprise. Not only was there a beautiful 70' waterfall, turns out there were three waterfalls and so many wildflowers that we could hardly keep pace with Wessy on the [...]
First time up to Waterrock Knob this year. We usually visit whenever the Blue Ridge is open but in the winter, those times are next to none. But it's spring now and most of the Parkway is open! On this day, showers were threatening, but we have stopped worrying about rain in these mountains. Any [...]
Whiteside Mountain near Highlands is always a favorite winter hike. Usually, we hike in ice and snow. This time it was just cold and wintery. I posted some of these photos on FB but wanted to talk about the hike itself. This hike is a looping two miles which leads to one incredible overlook after [...]
A few months ago, I struggled with this trail—the Forney Ridge Trail—as we hiked to Andrews Bald, but this was a different day! One hiker wrote that we all have good and bad days on "the trail." Some days we don't have as much energy and others we have lots! He had a bad day [...]
I found the Art Loeb Trail deep in the Shining Rock Wilderness! But most every hiker in this area knows it well. The trail is named after Art Loeb (LOL), who loved and hiked Black Balsam and the surrounding mountains. A few weeks ago, I wanted to find a different way to Tennent Mountain, and [...]
Click on all photos to enlarge them! I have wanted to hike to the top of Siler Bald for a while. This trail is about 4.6 miles in and out, but we felt that it was a little longer. We left from Wayah Gap. You will want to take Wayah Road to Wayah [...]
