I got up early and filmed the sunrise and took a couple of pictures.
Our plan for the day is to get fuel for the truck, shop to refill the fridge, and clean the house before pulling out tomorrow.
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Well we had to wait in line for 25 minutes but we did get to hike Pilot Mountain. Yes there was a wait to get a parking place.
The hike was 2.4 miles the first 1.6 miles were rated as strenuous. From the parking lot the trail follows the top of a cliff. As the trail turns back at the base of the cliff we came across a lot of people climbing. Pretty impressive watching from below as they scaled up 50 feet above us.
There were some very nice views of the valley.
At the low point the hike was at 1600 feet in altitude at the high point 2200 feet. So we had a transition of 600 feet but even then there were also rises and falls in between. So yes most of it was a pretty strenuous hike.
Well our plan was to hike at Pilot Mountain State Park. The problem was that a LOT of other people did too. The wait just for a parking space was 30 minutes. We came back to the RV park and relaxed. We will have to go back to the park some other day.
Today we are relaxing at the RV park. They have several things we can do and this afternoon a Labor day cookout and other activities. If feels great outside. Low humidity and a cool breeze with clear blue sky.
We had about a dozen Canadian geese fly in this morning. A few were hanging out just behind the RV. We visited Mt Airy also known as Mayberry. It was the childhood home of Andy Griffith until he graduated high school. This is the town that he used as his model for the TV shows in which he later acted. There is even an actual town of Mt Pilot nearby for those who remember the references in the show. We walked through the downtown streets and stopped at many of the businesses are still in operation from the time he lived here and many that have taken on a look and names of those used in the TV shows. There is the cafe he ate at lunch, Floyd’s Barbershop, Wally’s Service Station, Wally’s towing, Fred’s Radio and TV Repair, Mayberry Hotel, Foley’s Market, Emmett’s Fixxit Shop, Soda shops, and Opie’s Candy store. We also visited the Mayberry Jail and Courthouse which looks almost identical to the one in the show right down to the old phone on Sheriff Taylor’s desk and Otis the town drunk’s jail cell that did not lock. They have tried to keep the downtown area as close to the way it looked in the late 50’s if they would close off those few blocks of main street and park period cars along the way it would be perfect.
The hike up Stone Mountain was strenuous and as with most of our hikes was wet. It was a 4.3 mile hike with a LOT of stairs and up open rock with cables as guides. The altitude change from the parking lot to the top of the mountain is just over 700 feet. Which is like walking up a to the top of a 70 story building across the top and then back down. The warning posted was a bit of a 'wake up call'. This is a place where your personal judgement is what keeps you safe or not. In many areas where there was a cliff we could have walked all the way to the edge or beyond with no barrier. Not like most parks where there are fences keeping people back from danger. It will get your heart pumping to be in that sort of situation.
We had an incredible view for lunch and it rained four times over the entire hike. Guess we had to make up for the last time we hiked and did not get wet. The rain suits worked great.
The falls from the mountain come down a 200 foot slope of granite. Stairs follow them down to the stream at the bottom.
Near the last part of the hike we passed below the area we had lunch far above at the top of the mountain. I have posted a few pictures of several of the trees that were hanging from the nearly vertical areas of the mountain. Then we walked through a restored homestead and back to the truck.
As we drove out of the park we came up on deer standing along the road. They had no fear of us or the truck at all. On our drive in we passed a dozen turkey's in a group walking along the road.
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January 2024
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