Leaving behind the perfect April weather in Durham, a good friend from college and I departed for the Blue Ridge Mountains. The plan was to begin our trip in Stone Mountain State Park, making our way south along the Blue Ridge Parkway to camp in the area surrounding Mt. Mitchell State Park. Stone Mountain SP seems to be often overlooked by many visitors to the BLP, allowing for a quiet and wildlife ridden sunrise hike to Stone Mountain Falls and of course, Stone Mountain itself. Along the way, we were able to spot over a dozen deer grazing in the fields near the trailhead, as well as a coyote drinking directly from Stone Mountain falls.
Continuing southward, the day was filled with many short excursions around Grandfather Mountain, Flat Top Mountain, Linville Gorge, and Wiseman’s Peak. Throughout the day, we heard rumors of snow at Mt. Mitchell, ranging from road closures to one person telling us the mountain got over a foot of snow overnight. Therefore, as we climbed the summit road to Mt. Mitchell, we expected to be turned around by park rangers at every turn. It was not until we had found a campsite for the night about a mile from the summit that a park ranger stopped to warn us of the conditions, and closure of the park for camping. His recommendation was to hike to the boundary of the state park to camp for the night, but that the trail was under 6 inches of snow and ice! Suffice to say, after hiking in the snow for an hour, we had settled on a slanted and snowy mountainside campsite for the night.
A somewhat sleepless night in the snow was well worth the hardship, as we made the ascent to the summit of the highest peak in the East before sunrise to watch the moon set and sun rise simultaneously. The pictures below do not do the weekend justice, and I cannot wait to return to the temperature and weather ambiguous mountains in my new home.
Trevor's Hiking Blog 