Walking Wounded - Bad Map = Eight Mile Hike!!

Roger here...  It is my task to report our last hike at Stone Mountain State Park which was a doozy for a lot of reasons. 

 We left after an early lunch at 11:30 a.m.  (Good thing we ate.)  We decided that Chaplin had recovered enough from his minor injury to join us; after all, we would just be walking along a serene valley next to the mountain.  The map (worthless) indicated that the walk would be moderate (not strenuous, like the earlier trip to the summit) and we only intended to go about four miles (two miles each way to an old homestead and back).  As you probably surmise, there were surprises in store.

Our first surprise was the 200-foot waterfall that campers talked about, but was not on the map.  Wow, the water rolled right over the solid granite rock face, plummeting to a small pool below -  300 steps below.  300 wooden steps that we would need to climb as we returned at the end of the hike.  Oh well, we would only be walking four relatively flat miles.  The 300 return steps would be difficult, but we were up to it.

Chaplin was magnificent as we descended into the abyss. None of his usual fears surfaced. When we reached the bottom and were able to look back up at the amazing waterfall, we found our new friends, Steve and Evin and their three dogs, at the bottom - a great surprise. After a round of talk and picture taking we left our friends. 

We moved along the relatively flat valley along the babbling stream. So peaceful. So serene. "Oooh. Look out!," Dianne gasped, "Don't step on the salamander!"
 

 I have to tell you that I have never seen a living thing (without feathers) as red as that salamander was.  It stayed still long enough to get a picture; then we found another one a few feet away. We googled it when we got back and determined that they were rusty mud salamanders.  The dogs didn't even notice them.  Sight hounds, yeah right.

OK then.  We continued along the trail and the stream and saw some amazing views of the mountain that we had climbed earlier in the week -  glad we're not doing any climbing today, except for the 300 steps at the end.

After what was truly a pleasant walk, we eventually reached the half-way (not really) point of the hike.  We came upon the really interesting Hutchinson Homestead (something that was actually on the map).  It consisted of a series of well-preserved buildings that were constructed in the mid 1800's - a cabin, barn, outhouse, you get the picture.  We wandered around for a while looking at the informative placards.  The  homestead was located right at the base of the granite cliffs.  What a setting.


Time to move on.  I, CAREFULLY, looked at the map.  Instead of retracing our steps, we could take another moderate trail, with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, that would only add a half a mile.  Dianne agreed that it would be more interesting (not entirely my fault), so we located the alternate trail and moved on, and up, and up, and UP!  (The map said nothing about going UP!).  

After innumerable switchbacks (and some minor complaining from Dianne) we reached the top. (Straight up is moderate?) We had magnificent views of the Blue Ridge Mountain escarpment on one side and Stone Mountain on the other - well worth the sweat. Really, it was. 


When we reached a fork in the trail (still at the top of the mountain we did not intend to climb), I carefully re-consulted the state park map. If we went right, we would supposedly travel across a ridge and add another half mile with the possibility of going down and then back up and then back down, and back up at the 300 steps. 


If we went left we would go down and be deposited half-way back to the campground on the level trail.  We were tired at this point, so we opted to go left.  Oh my gravy!  (My new favorite non-expletive from The Amazing Race.)

We arrived at another huge granite outcropping, walked across it, 

and began our descent.  At this point, I  must digress:  Way, way back 

at the waterfall, Dianne began telling me that an earlier injury of her big toe (right foot) was causing her some minor distress.  Several months ago (December), back when we were in Kansas, she had dropped the TV remote on it.  Much later, mid-March, the toe nail came off.  Since then it has been growing back and painted red so that it did not look gross.  Well, back at the waterfall, the toe started to hurt when it hit the front of her hiking shoe while going downhill.  Sooooo, now that we were going down a steep descent, she gave me her right shoe to carry  while she hiked with one bare foot.  Down we went.  At least we would be half-way home when we reached the bottom.

OH MY GRAVY!  We reached the bottom of the mountain, and we were BACK AT THE HOMESTEAD!  Oh my gravy.  I re-consulted the map and IT was wrong,  Oh my gravy.  We were still two and a half miles from the campground!  Dianne was barefoot (she ended up taking off both  shoes so as not to be UNEVEN), we still had the 300 steps to climb at the end, and the day was slipping away. 

 By the way, Chaplin was fine and thoroughly enjoying the day.   We stopped to eat the two apples that we brought along and gave the dogs a doggie treat.  We  retraced our steps back down the trail that we could have taken an hour ago.  

Soon after moving on, the trail changed from sandy gravel to granite gravel - so the shoes went back on (after two miles of barefoot hiking).  Ahh!  The 300 steps were every bit as fun as we thought they would be, especially after hiking 7+ miles!  Here are a couple photos of the infamous steps, from the bottom up and after we finally reached the top, looking down.


Back to the motor home - arrival time 3:30 -- four hours and, according to Dianne's pedometer, almost eight and a half miles!  The dogs slept.  Dianne reminded me what a good sport she is :-)  Hey, it was a good work out, wasn't it??


Dianne here:  "Good workout?!"  It took me two days to recover!!


If you'd like to follow the entire eight-mile hike with us (without all the exertion), I've put together another slide show of the photos we took along the way:  

Mayberry - Back to another time: Mount Airy, NC

Roger here...


All of us have had tunes that replay themselves in our minds, even when we want them to stop. They are usually stupid jingles or "not-so-great" songs from our youth. During the last few days I have been hearing the whistled theme song from the Andy Griffith Show, AND honestly, I am kind of enjoying it.


We are spending three nights in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, the hometown of Andy Griffith -- In case you did not know it. This is really the true MAYBERRY, in almost every detail. I convinced Dianne that this might be fun - though a little corny - and she agreed. However, the bottom line is, it's not really that corny.

The campground is called (what else) the Mayberry Campground. It's really pretty nice with terraced gravel sites that overlook the Blue Ridge Mountains and what I choose to believe as Opie and Andy's fishin' pond. Oh yes, we can also see and hear I-74. Nonetheless, we really like it here.

Back to Mayberry (Mt. Airy).... what a quaint, friendly and unique place! We started our visit with a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs at Barney's Cafe. Barney's place has not been updated (other than the cut-out of Barney and the great Mayberry pencil drawings on the walls). We were so lucky to run into Barney and Thelma Lou before we moved on. Doesn't Thelma Lou look great?

We snapped a picture of the Mayberry patrol car, as well as some other vintage cars, that were parked along Main Street. (Most Saturday afternoons vintage car enthusiasts line up to show off their cars.)

We next stopped at the visitor's center that anchors the vintage town clock. The very nice lady there greeted us as we entered and told us about all the "wonders" (that she was so proud of) of Mt. Airy. This was our first introduction to the genuinely friendly people here. Because of the people, among other things, this is a special place.

We wandered down Main Street and encountered a live blue grass band outside the movie house. Dianne recorded a video of a snippet of their performance. It was so cool. Check it out:

Even better was the elderly southern gentleman who approached us while we listened, to strike up a conversation. (This seems to be the norm here and we like it.) When he found out that we were from Indiana, he told us about the nostalgic days that he had at Ft. Benjamin Harrison when he was in the service. (Dianne here: He thought he was going north to a nice, mild summer. He said he soon discovered that Indiana summers were more hot and humid than here in Mount Airy! Must be the elevation here....)
What a warm and welcoming feeling. (If the shop keepers were any more friendly and welcoming, we'd be making plans to come back to spend Christmas dinner with them! They seemed genuinely glad to have us visit their shops. -- D.)

Further down and across the street, we encountered the Snappy Lunch (famous for its pork chop sandwiches, and mentioned in the Andy Griffith Show). We were still too full from breakfast, but it was fun to see it. (They close mid-afternoon, so go early if you want to eat lunch there -- D.)

Next door was Floyd's Barbershop. THE REAL FLOYD'S BARBERSHOP! The owner (Russell) has cut hair there for 60 years - including Andy's. How cool? I did not get a haircut, but did get a shot of the barber's chair. Russell wasn't there when we stopped by, but if you visit when he's there, you can get your picture taken with him while sitting in the barber chair. The walls are covered with photos of visitors from over the years.

A short way down the street we encountered Opie's Candy Store. OK, it really does not belong to Opie, but it is FULL of the candy that I remember from my local Indiana dime store - chocolate stars, lemon drops, carbonated beverages, licorice - yada yada yada. You could buy candy in a paper bag (mix and match) by the pound. Dianne (the sugar queen / aka the pyro queen) was in heaven.
We also visited the Andy Griffith museum and the regional museum in Mount Airy. The "jail" was closed (on Saturday?) so we couldn't take our pictures in Otis' jail cell, as other tourists have done. We did drive by the small house that Andy Griffith and his family lived in while he was growing up in Mount Airy. It is now rented out as a bed and breakfast.


We ended up spending more time in town than we expected to, and having a lot of fun while there. It was threatening rain, so we made our way back to the public parking lot and the short drive back to Mayberry Campground.

This area is also known for its lovely local wineries. Check back soon for our blog about our day wine tasting our way around the Yadkin Valley.

Stone Mountain State Park, NC - campground heaven

Roger here....  Mostly pictures this time.  All of them were taken from our campsite (Site #40) in Stone Mountain State Park, near the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.  What a find, and we reserved five nights!  All the water/electric sites are fully paved asphalt with a huge patio area with a compacted surface of fine  gravel/sand.  Each site has a raised fire ring  set on a brick platform and a huge picnic table.  No crowding problem here - the sites are separated by expansive grassy lawns.  We have amazing views out all our windows.

Our sunny site (great satellite coverage) backs up to a creek-side woods where we are able to sit and enjoy the dappled sunlight.  We can hear the rocky flow of water from our patio.  In the evening, deer venture right up to the edge of the campsites looking for handouts.  Our neighbors tossed out popcorn one night, and we watched as a pair of deer came right up to their patio.  

The view out the front is of a very green cone-shaped mountain.  We have enjoyed watching the sun rise behind it every morning. 


 Only one drawback - nonexistent Verizon coverage in this mountain valley.  (Dianne here:  Our cell phones are nothing but paperweights here!! 


 There is a nearby country store that has wi-fi that is a short drive away, but unless you have satellite for your internet, you might be out of luck here in the mountains.)

The pyro-queen returns!  Our recent campsites have not been all that conducive to campfires, but this one is perfect.  On the second night, Dianne sent me packing to the ranger station to buy firewood (which we enjoyed three different nights).  She had a great time playing with the fire using the giant yellow fire tongs that she truly loves.  Every once in a while I threaten to get rid of them, just to enjoy her reaction :-)  She knows I'm kidding.

Dianne here:  If I'd thought of it, I definitely would have brought my "Fire Pliers" to the gadget show-and-tell at the recent rally we attended.  I read about these in Nick Russell's blog a year or so ago, and just had to have them.  If you're interested in ordering a pair for yourself, you can order them on-line at their web site:  http://www.firepliers.com

We had a nice surprise the first day we were here.  We were walking the dogs around the campground, and as we passed by a lovely new Mobile Suites fifth wheel, we heard a voice call out  "Roger?"  We looked to see new friends we had just made at the rally in South Carolina a week before!  Steve and Evin live near this area, and they are still exploring the full-time lifestyle.  We saw them several times while here: at their camp site, on a trail, and then last night they joined us for a campfire at our site.  This world just gets smaller and smaller!!  Roger's school friends should check out this photo of Steve;  doesn't he look like Brian C.?

This is a very popular North Carolina state park, and for good reason.  I suspect it is very busy in the summer.  During our stay (mid-week in April) it was not crowded.  We will definitely try to return to this lovely place.

  We've published two blogs today; read on if you'd like to take a virtual hike with us to the summit of Stone Mountain....