Table Rock Mountain, NC

For our 49th Wedding Anniversary we chose to revisit a North Carolina hamlet along the Little Toe River. [I wonder if people jokingly refer to it as "The Little Pinkie."] Spruce Pine's business district is along the Little Toe River, but most of the residents perch on the steep mountainside overlooking the town and the river. We stayed in The Richmond Inn, a lovely bed and breakfast, nestled on the mountainside above the town. Needless to say, the roads are narrow, steep and curving!

We chose to hike to the summit of Table Rock Mountain accessible via a rough gravel road which passes several possible hikes for our future adventures. The Pisgah National Forest has a treasure trove of adventures just waiting for us!

Interestingly, the last couple of miles up to the parking area at the base of Table Rock is well paved, albeit very steep with hairpin curves. We caught an occasional view eastward toward the Piedmont where the terrain flattens into rolling hills. 

We were in for an amazing sight on the other side of the mountain!

Our hike began just at the northern end of the parking lot and wound up, up, up toward the summit.

 Yes, the summit is only 1 mile.

 But you can see that we must go up to reach the spectacular summit.

 On our way along the eastern rim of the Linville Gorge, we caught glimpses of the majestically rugged Linville Gorge with the Linville River rushing down out of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 The Gorge is 2800 feet deep in a few spots. 

 Rising nearly 4000 feet above sea level, the summit provides a spectacular panoramic view of the Gorge. 

 Near the summit, we spotted Little Table Rock, a knob below the top overlooking the Gorge. Fortunately, it was connected to the main trail by a saddle with an easy trail to the flat top with limited views into the Gorge. 

 If you enlarge the photo and look closely, you will see a hiker just stepping away from a large tree. 

 The hiker will give you a perspective on the vastness of the wilderness and the mountains.

 Because of the ruggedness of the Gorge, the Linville River has several impressive waterfalls. The best way to view the most popular waterfalls is to arrive via the Blue Ridge Parkway and hike a pleasant, tourist-friendly trail to view the falls from various overlooks.

 Two renowned botanists, André Michaux and John Fraser, explored the area in the nineteenth century and many of the plants they discovered are named in their honor. I could not resist photographing this galax putting on quite a show in December!  

 At last, we reached the summit! For the most part the front part of the top is relatively flat so we were able to explore a bit. 

 A young couple agreed to snap a picture of the happy old couple celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary and also their successful climb to the summit!

 We were surprised to find a survey benchmark at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Gorge. The placement of the marker was not at the highest point where most of the high elevation markers are usually found. 

 Photographs cannot adequately capture the majestically rugged beauty of the Gorge.

 I convinced Chris to stand closer to the edge in order to capture the upper gorge and Hawksbill Mountain to the right of the image. 

 Surprise! We discovered another survey benchmark on the other side of the summit.

 Still smiling after 49 years of marriage! 

 I was totally amazed to spot the Lesser Rattlesnake Plantain on the mountain. Tucked under an overhanging rock, this small orchid bloomed and produced fruit capsules. Farther down the trail we spotted a patch of gentians of an unidentifiable variety. Hmm, maybe I can convince Chris to return in September/October to see these lovelies in bloom! Imagine the Gorge dressed in autumn finery!

 Yep, what goes up must go down. 

 We took the spur trail across the saddle to get a view of Table Rock from Little Table Rock. 

 Zoom in on the left edge of the summit to see the two hikers looking out over the Gorge. Yep, Table Rock is a huge mountain!

 We are across a small gorge from the main trail. Look closely to find the hiker in yellow.

 The size of the hiker will give you some idea of the perspective and size Table Rock presents.

 As we were returning to the main trail, a family of three joined us on Little Table Rock. They were loaded with camping gear and planned to spend the night. What an experience that will be! With daytime temperatures in the mid-60s and nighttime temps in the 40s, the family will have memories of their experience to last a lifetime. 

 I wish I could see a sunset from the summit of Table Rock.

 The opposite end of the mountain is another area that invites exploring. The Mountain to Sea Trail crosses Table Rock Mountain just below the summit. It actually skirts the opposite end and passes near the Chimneys, the North Carolina Wall and the Amphitheater all 3 features familiar to rock climbers. 

 After we reached the parking lot, I shot back toward the mountain we had spent an afternoon conquering! 

 After our descent, we wanted to find a special restaurant to celebrate our successful conquer of Table Rock and also our 49 years of marriage...both a feat of stamina, patience and joy. We found the perfect restaurant guaranteed to provide a million dollar view.

Yes, it lived up to its reputation! What a view!

Looking back toward the Blue Ridge...

Looking out toward the southwest...Upon arrival from the back, we observed a nondescript building perched on the edge of the overlook. But this quaint restaurant boasted an amazing view and a menu to match. Where better to celebrate an anniversary?

Several years ago when we chose a Blue Ridge Parkway vacation, we stopped off at Spruce Pine late one evening to find a motel for the night before picking up our journey north the next day. The only motel in Spruce Pine was the Lemon Tree Inn. 

 It was so primitive and nasty that I failed to take pictures when we spent the night there. So, I insisted that Chris drive by so I could snap a couple of shots. It appears that the current proprietors have made some improvements...at least cosmetically on the outside. 

 The Lemon Tree is a true motor lodge from the old days before motels and interstates. 

 Just shy of Model T days, the Lemon Tree Inn still calls to the unwary traveler who might be willing to sleep on genuine ticking, exposed mattress springs, and dare to try the "light" breakfast fare. I won't even begin to describe the bathroom and shower facilities! 

 But memories are made from the memorable, not from the mundane and predictable! 

A Quiet Walkway

One of the wonderful things about living near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the access to remoteness even close to busy thoroughfares and towns.

The quiet walkways along Hwy 441 over the mountain offer opportunities to escape the busy-ness of life. Yesterday the weather and light traffic offered such an opportunity to "escape" close to home.

Several quiet walkways are sprinkled throughout the Park. We chose the second quiet walkway just up from Sugarlands Visitor Center on Hwy 441. What is so interesting to us is how the 3 designated walkways are connected by man-ways rather than by maintained trails. 

 A few years ago, Chris and I accompanied family members up the Old Sugarlands Trail with the Rock House as our destination, but stopped for lunch on the huge boulders at the river near where the old highway crossed the river. At that time, the river was much fuller with water rushing over the large boulders. Today the water level was down significantly. I think we could have rock hopped across the river. It was fun coming from the other side of the river and seeing where we had spent time picnicking and boulder hopping.

 I love finding the old homestead stone walls! Obviously this wide path was once a main thoroughfare along the river.

 Listening to the rustle of leaves, chatter of squirrels and sounds of the river melts away all anxiety...until you encounter fresh bear scat! We figured most of the bears were spending their Thanksgiving in Gatlinburg rather than scooping up the abundant acorn mast. Scavenging in a dumpster is so much more rewarding for bears than searching out acorns and berries.

 Although it was a gray overcast sky most of the day, sometimes the fall leaves exploded with the sunlight. Just being in such overwhelming quiet beauty releases tension and anxiety. We walked down the wide maintained trail and where it intersected with the man-way along the river, we strolled a bit in both directions upstream and then downstream. A few blowdowns had us crawling, stooping, scooting and detouring.

 I love seeing the lichens' verdigris [green/gray] patterns on rocks. The rock serves as a stone canvas for the artistic patterns to develop. Mosses and lichens seem to enjoy each other's company!

 With the leaves off the trees, a clear view across the river allowed us to see the concrete abutment where the old highway crossed the river before the new Hwy 441 was rerouted. We decided to make a loop hike to return to the vehicle. Rather than return to the quiet walkway, we chose to find and follow the faint trail that passes across the flat bottom land, winds steeply up along the side of the ridge and emerges at the other end of the parking area. We had to navigate several blowdowns, but otherwise the trail was as I remembered it 7 or 8 springs ago before the fires.

 One last stop at another quiet walkway just past Sugarlands VC off the River Road! This trail was not as quiet because it was close to the highway. Nevertheless, it provided a pleasant stroll! Hmmm, I wonder what wildflowers grow along these lovely quiet walkways....