~ mount mitchell ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Saturday night, several of the Waldorf mommas

stayed up ridiculously late talking and laughing,

and suffice it to say, I was quite tired on Sunday morning.

So when I finally stumbled downstairs, 

bleary-eyed from driving home in the wee-hours of the morning

and functioning (barely) on 4 hours of sleep,

the last thing I wanted to do was go for a hiking trip.

But the "new" me is trying to be more agreeable, 

and when the loving husband suggested Mt Mitchell

I pulled it together, slugged back a few cups of coffee,

and packed food and clothes for the road.

Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina

is an easy drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway from us.

Driving through those tunnels were simultaneously 

a physical act and a metaphorical one.

We stopped at a pull-off when poor Laurel

had a little bit of carsickness from the winding roads.

But soon we were ready to drive on to the park.

"Let's go!" says Lela.

We were giddy driving up the long park road,

windows down at Lela's wise suggestion.

Of course, like everywhere we go, 

eating is the first thing on the agenda for the girls.

So we had a quick snack and then they found their own dessert.

We stood picking this mountain raspberries for almost an hour!

They were delicious, but for such wild children, the thrill is in the hunt.

"Alright now" says the pup

"I'm ready to go!"

The walk up to the summit less than a quarter of a mile

and is fairly busy on such a glorious day.  

I loved this picture of Liv, turning around and noticing the view.

And this one of Lela.  

She turned around, saw the beautiful mountains full on,

and gasped, putting her hand to her chest.

A moment later I captured her hugging herself 

and smiling so much she started laughing.

 

The sisters that everyone thinks are twins, Liv and Lela.

Then it was on to the very tippy-top of Mount Mitchell!

Even with the haze that is sadly too common here,

the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains was stunning.

(Mount Mitchell is in a sub-range called the Black Mountains.)

I loved this one!

On our way back down,

the real twins decide to play in a patch of enormous clover.

By this point, the poor dog was completely overwhelmed 

with people trying to pet her,

so we quickly sneaked down the nature trail.

There, we were greeted by lush ferns and moss and towering conifers.

A huge outcropping of rock created a little gnome home

for the girls and their Daddy.  

Imagine my surprise to find these pictures 

on my camera when we got home!  

The girls said that it was clearly their great-grandfathers,

Papa and GP,

casting rainbows around them.

I completely agree.

There was a magical feeling about those rocks,

and now I know why.

We wandered further into the forest,

and Laurel decided that she wanted to be a kitty.

She crawled a good bit of the one-mile trail.

Lela and Liv ventured ahead.

These high coniferous forests are under attack from many fronts.

The red spruce-frasier fir forests, home to rare plants and animals

suffers from devastating acid rain.

Careless logging and fires caused their own problems.

Hemlock wooly adelgid and balsam wooly adelgid 

are invasive exotic species from Asia

that attack hemlocks and firs, respectively.

The damage to hemlocks in other parts of the Appalacians is literally gut-wrenching.  

It is hoped that the high elevation of Mount Mitchell

will offer these noble fraiser firs some protection.

.

But one thing is certain:

this is a magical place and there are more than rangers and scientists 

watching after these beautiful forests.

Around each bend and under each tree,

a faery or gnome home awaits.

The girls left offerings of leaves, bark and pebbles.

Lela found a little rock and nestled it down the moss for the mountain faeries.

After leaving the enchanted forest,

we took in the vistas for a bit longer.

I'm grateful for following my husband and my heart

that glorious day, a day spent as a family.

It was most definitely a memory I will cherish.

What mountains are you loving?

~carrie~