So the past few weeks we’ve been hitting the mountains pretty hard, trying to take advantage of the weekends when my schedule overlaps with Kai and his cousin being off. Our first trip was last month when we headed out near Canton, NC - west of Asheville, to take a stab at hiking up Cold Mountain (of the movie fame). At 6,030’ - it is one of the dozens of 6K+ peaks in the near vicinity. Marisa and I hiked it years ago and camped just below the summit on a very memorable Fall weekend. This trip would be a good look at whether the boys are ready to tackle some of the longer vertical hikes we have in the area…
Our cabin was nice…but probably not our favorite as far as location and character. Located just a few miles from the Camp Daniel Boone Boy Scout Camp, where the trailhead for the Cold Mountain trail starts…
The weekend was slated to be pretty raw…with temperatures in the upper 30s to low 40s, with low ceilings and some rain moving in. Our hike on Saturday morning started out early since the hike is a fairly long 10 mile round trip, with about 3,000’ of elevation gain.
Getting ready to head up…
Going uphill we started heating up a bit, so shed some layers…
The trail is in excellent condition and winds through some beautiful areas. In the winter you get some nice views through the trees wheras in the spring through fall the foliage obscures a lot of the views…
After a couple of hours, we reached the gap where a lot of people stop and camp. Throughout the morning, the temperature continued to drop toward the mid 30s and the rain that had held off started to turn to a misty drizzle. We elected to go ahead and eat lunch at the gap and the boys were pretty well worn out and getting cold. We only had 1.2 miles left to the summit, but we decided to save it for a nicer day and perhaps an overnight trip. They did great getting this far.
Coming back down the mountain…
Spot the hiker (Marisa)…
Taking another short break…
Slippery spots…
And back to the car as the rain starts to pick up…
Time for tacos and margaritas…
And a board game while we warm up…
A couple of weeks later, we headed up to the northern side of Grandfather Mountain, just outside of Banner Elk, NC. We arrived late Friday evening after winding our way up the twisty road to the cabin…
We went to sleep late and were hoping to wake up the next morning and drive the few miles down to the start of the Profile Trail, but the weather report wasn’t too encouraging. The next morning we awoke to a winter wonderland…
With the snow coming down heavily and with the forecast for more snow, ice, and sleet, we decided we’d better stay put since going down the mountain might result in us not getting back UP the mountain…
I cooked up a nice breakfast with some peppered bacon, southwestern omelette, and some toast…
With the Profile Trail off the list, we decided to just tromp up and down the mountain roads above our cabin…
The community must have an on call local that does the road plowing…they came along mid-morning and scrapped the road. Which was OK, but actually made the later icing even worse…
We had a good time all day and the boys were in and out of the cabin at various points building snowmen, sliding around the hills, and making a fort in the rhododendron thickets…
I created Modelo Man…
A break for chili to warm up…
And some board games again…
The next morning, everything was coated with about a quarter inch of ice…and the road was a slippery mess…
So we hung out and waited for the road to melt out…fortunately the sun popped in and out toward mid-day.
The cabin owner was super nice and offered to let us stay an additional night for free if we needed it due to the road conditions, and he even offered to bring us up food from his cabin just down the road. As temps moved up toward 32F, the road got just enough sunlight to start the melting process and we got down just fine.
Our third trip was last weekend. With the boys on Spring Break, we headed to a cabin in a remote section of northern Georgia. The cabin, called the Timber Cabin, sits right up against US Forest Service lands. Deep in a valley, there is no internet or cell service unless you hike a bit up the ridge.
The cabin is really rustic looking, with a loft bedroom, a futon, but it has electricity and isn’t rough living at all.
Just down the hill from the cabin is Vandegriff Creek…
The boys enjoyed all the assorted “stuff” outside of the cabin. I was just hoping they wouldn’t take a finger off…
Our first night we had margaritas and tacos - never a bad combination…
We used the woodstove to heat the place - something I’m used to doing since we use a similar setup at home. Also convenient for making s’mores…
Made a hearty breakfast in the morning and we prepared for our day hike…
The previous night, I had told the super scary story of Stumpy Stan, the sawmill worker that had cut of all of his fingers in a winter milling accident on the creek below the cabin (they only found seven of his fingers!). Stumpy is presumed to have died after trying to make it up to the cabin in a winter storm, but he couldn’t turn the doorknob due to his soaked stumps being ineffective. All that was ever found of him was a trail, pool of blood, and the aforementioned seven fingers. He apparently visited us in the night however…
Marisa and the boys near the saw blade that took Stumpy Stan’s fingers…
Heading down to the creek on a cool morning…
Oddly enough, everywhere we go hiking, a silent Indian (Chief Tsunaga) manages to sneak around us on the trail leaving treats for the boys…
Up near the top of the valley we ran into two dirt bikers that were using a Forestry Service road that we were hiking up…
We decided to bushwhack down the creek to try to join up on another trail…it was kind of steep and slow going for a bit, but thankfully the spring foliage hasn’t started to fill in yet…
Our GPS track showing our hike up and down the mountain…
Back down at the cabin, time to get into eating and drinking mode…
Peppercorn marinated filets…
While I did the grilling, Marisa and the boys rode bikes up and down the long gravel driveway to the cabin…
And after dinner we did s’mores in the chimenea…
Temperatures would drop quickly each night from the low 60s down to the low 40s…
The next day we decided to bushwhack up a nearby ridgeline to T into the trail we head hiked to the previous day. It started out steep, but was a great hike through the woods along an easy to navigate spine. I was a bit concerned some timber rattlesnakes might start coming out and sunning, but we never saw any.
Again, with the early season foliage only just budding out, the views on the ridgeline were great…
Chief Tsunaga strikes again…!
Having lunch at the top of the ridge where it joined the area we hiked the previous day…
Red is our first hike, purple is the second day up the ridgeline…
Coming back down…
The boys did great and it was a complaint free hike…they really did a great job.
They enjoyed playing in the creek on the way down…
Later that afternoon, we had our Easter Egg hunt around the cabin…which went off successfully with no tears…
Homemade pizza later that night and a bitterly contested board game…
Heading home…the Google Maps driving directions are always entertaining where they take you…
So there you have it. A few great mountain trips and looking forward to Spring tent camping instead of cabins in the coming weeks…