Grandfather Mountain

Last Sunday afternoon, Chris and I traversed the Blue Ridge Parkway with the end destination of Grandfather Mountain in mind. I'm not really sure how it got its name, but the brochure does say that it is 730 million years old. Though I don't know where that puts it in terms of relative mountain ages...

On our way, Chris and I had a picnic lunch at one of the overlooks and arrived at "the most rugged mountain in eastern America" by mid-afternoon.

At a height of 5,946 feet above sea level, it's famous for its "mile-high" suspension (aka swinging) bridge. I'll admit it freaked me out a little bit more than I thought it would. There was no stopping for pictures in the middle of this one for me - especially after reading the sign and knowing that there was no one even counting!

They had a fantastic visitors' center with exhibits on all of the flowers, birds, reptiles, mushrooms, etc. etc. that lived within the mountain's 3,300 acres. (I just wanted to include the picture because of the cool lighting effects). Apparently this is one of the 531 official Biosphere Reserves in the world, and there are at least 73 rare and endangered species that call this area home.

Just down the pathway from the center were the controlled animal habitats. It seems weird to enjoy "nature" in a zoo like setting, but at this point, there's not much more they can do (because state law requires any animal born in captivity to stay there). Anyway, we got to see river otters, bears, bald eagles, deer, and cougars in their semi-natural habitats.

We did some hiking, Chris climbed Split Rock and Sphinx Rock, and as we were leaving the park, we were treated to some real, up close and personal moments with free-roaming deer on the side of the road.

While it was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful place to be, this trip reconfirmed my innate desires to be a flat-lander. Just driving down from the bridge to the park entrance, there were 7 hairpin turns (and that's not counting any normal curves or turns). It was insane! I felt nauseous until we found the best pizza joint in Boone, NC called Capone's. Oh my! Great Chicago-style pizza! (Boone is where Appalachian State is - and just so you know this is another word we've been pronouncing wrong our whole lives. The third syllable is a short a and the last has a hard ch (as in chair not Chicago). While I like the hiking and the beautiful views maybe once or twice a year, it's definitely not somewhere I could ever actually live. I can't help it - I like being able to look across fields and see everything for miles in any direction.