Mountains to Sea
Hiking Across North Carolina in Snippets
I must mention a disclaimer here: There is an actual Mountains to Sea trail that starts in the Smoky Mountains and ends at the Outer Banks. We were not necessary following this trail, but the concept of traveling boots across the terrain of North Carolina.
The mountains are my happy place and I could and have spent more time on the west end of the state. The following are some of my highlights.
Linville Falls Campground was an excellent choice for tent camping. The river runs through it to the southeast and you can snag a waterside site. They take a certain number of reservations and many others are first come/first serve. We heard coyotes at night around our campfire. There are not shower facilities but restrooms and sinks available, along with potable water. The hike to the tiered Linville Falls is an easy 1.6, but a nice introduction to the gorge.
Grandfather Mountain State Park, not to be confused with the private Grandfather Mountain that comes with a hefty entrance fee, offers some lovely and challenging hiking trails. We restrained our hike to the Profile Trail out and back. It was like traveling through fern gully of childhood dreams, all green and wet with towering trunks. One of my hiking companions said it was the loveliest trail she'd been on to date.
Stone Mountain State Park is a hidden gem. It's off the Blue Ridge Parkway a few miles, but offers great hiking trails and several human history displays. The strenuous 4.5 mile Stone Mountain Loop offers 360 views of the namesake and opportunities to watch the daredevil rock climbers.
Mount Mitchell is a must stop, being the highest point east of the Missippi. There is the easy sidewalk hike 1/2 mile to the viewing platform, where the above photo was captured, also the USGS benchmark noting the elevation.
Hiking along the Black Mountain Crest trail, we passed through a balsam forest so thick that the noon sun could barely pass the piney branches. Exit that thicket and you're scrambling along. You can travel out as far as you like and then return the same way. We scrambled to the edge of Mount Craig, had some fun with standing yoga flow, then headed back. According to the books, further travel out Black Mountain Crest will have quite a bit of scrambling, sometimes on all fours.
Our Piedmont excursion took us to Uwharrie National Forest. Maps are not readily available. If you have excellent navigation skills, you could use USGS quad maps. We aimed at Morris Mountain and Uwharrie trail loop but the trails were completely unmarked and we ended up just taking an out and back approach, even with a printed version of a map from AllTrails. This was not my favorite hike, aside from the wildflowers. Ticks were ripe and, even with DEET, I brushed 4 ticks off from the tow hour hike. I would suggest researching other piedmont area parks and hikes.
On to the shore! I booked a cabin on Cape Lookout for our sea adventure. You must arrive via ferry and I reserved that ahead of time also. We ferried on foot for the night stay, but many bring vehicles (after going though the ORV education) or ATV's. Most are there to surf fish. We went to touch the Atlantic by day and stargaze at night. Our cabin was located on the Great Island. Good beach walking and terrific weather.
The Atlantic in front of us and the sound at our backs afforded a nice relaxed atmosphere to culminate our trip. The last night was clear enough for star trails and the results weren't too shabby even with some light pollution from the coast and passing vehicles.
Our last night was spent at a commercial campground. I had unfortunately not taken into account the previous season's hurricane damage to the Nuese River/Flanners Beach campground that I wanted to visit. Goose Creek campground offered a few lovely creek-side tent sites with nice amenities and a glorious sunset. There happened to be a pre-wedding party that woke us with blaring music and drunken singing at 2am! Not my wilderness experience.
Little towns and stops I loved;
Blowing Rock; Good shops, restaurants and Blowing Rock Brewing.
Little Switzerland; tiny stop off the Blueridge Parkway, but with a nice restaurant at the inn, and a wonderful catch-all shop, book store and coffee stop all within a few hundred feet.
New Bern; home of Pepsi-Cola. Wonderful walkaround town, ice cream, gifts, outdoor shop, pretty riverfront.
Don't forget to sample Carolina Barbeque while in the state. Even if you prefer the tomato based sauces, they really do know how to slow cook the stuff to perfection.
