RATtreks

Grandfather Mountain State Park – 10-19-2012

After our recent trip to the Grandfather Mountain area along the Blue Ridge Parkway the week prior, we decided to come back and go to the Grandfather Mountain Park in hopes that the leaves would be more in peak colors. Linda had never been to the park and I had not been there since I was a kid around 1966 or 1967. We tried to get there as early as possible to beat the crowds but it was around 1:30pm before we could make it so, they were beginning to line up at the entrance gate already however, it did not take but a few minutes to pay and get through the gate. They give you a CD to play on your way up the mountain road which describes all the details and history of what you are seeing along the way. We stopped at the first overlook on the left to get a view of what the leaf colors were like before making our way further up the winding mountain road.

It was a chilly day to be on the mountain but that did not stop the crowds of people who were there to see the views and of course make their way to the mile high swinging bridge. We decided not to drive to the top but rather to park at the hiker’s parking lot a quarter mile below and hike the bridge trail to the top. This trail is .04 mile long and goes through a natural area with red and white rhododendron, galax, red spruce, Fraser fir, and yellow birch. The trail climbs up the mountain and travels under the Swinging Bridge before ending at the Visitor Center. You’ll have outstanding views of the massive rock outcroppings on this trail.

The 228 foot long suspension bridge spans an 80 foot chasm at more than a mile (5,280 feet) in elevation. This is definitely the highlight of the park. It was built in 1952 at a cost of $15,000. It was rebuilt in 1999 using the original towers but the cables, floor boards and side rails were all replaced using galvanized steel.(this prevents the need for painting) The cost of this was $300,000. Grandfather Mountain was officially established as a state park in June of 2009 after the Morton family agreed to sell 2,600 acres of the undeveloped portions of the mountain to the state of North Carolina the year before. The views from the top on this day made the cold, bone-chilling air worth the effort.

While at the swinging bridge I decided to try out my new camera. As you will see I was nowhere near the correct settings and the only thing that worked well was the huge zoom it has but I will eventually learn it and get much better pics but for now this was what I was able to get:

After we had all we could stand of the cold breezes at the bridge, we made our way back down the bridge trail to the car so we could visit the museum and wildlife sanctuary we had passed on the way up. Of course my main desire was to go to the Fudge Shoppe which is located there !After reaching the car and driving a short ways down the mountain we stopped at another overlook just below the bridge where I got a few shots including the ‘Forrest Gump Curve’ on the road where a scene from the movie was actually filmed.

We visited the museum first which had all kinds of Appalachian Mountain related items on display and was very interesting to see. There is a restaurant inside there as well but we had brought our own picnic lunch to eat later. I was still thinking of fudge.

From the museum we moved down the hill to the wildlife sanctuary. I recall my only other trip there as a 5 yr old kid,  I recall I was not happy and maybe did not get to see the original Mildred the bear who was brought there about that time in 1967. It is said that she did not know she was a bear ! Having been raised from ma cub as an office pet and bottle fed, she was not afraid of humans so when she was released to the wild she never left. She gave birth to many cubs, was a great mother and posed for many pictures and lived a happy life being the symbol of the park and the high country until she died in 1993 at the age of 26. The bears that are there now are descendants of Mildred. You can read a book written by Hugh Morton called ‘Mildred The Bear’ which is her autobiography. An interesting webpage (if it still exists is found here: http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/morton/index.php/2009/06/the-bear-that-didnt-know-she-was-a-bear/. We enjoyed seeing the bears as they posed right on cue for the tourists that were there eager to take their pics.

In a separate enclosure of her own was another large black bear who we were told does not get along with other bears and does well on her own. She was eating honey out of an old tire.

After checking out the bears we also saw an eagle, some otters, a few deer, and a large cougar but, the main poser on the mountain that day was a chipmunk who kept following us around as if he wanted us to take his picture !

From there we finally got to go inside the Fudge Shoppe. it was very crowded but it was well worth waiting in line for the many homemade fudges that are made there. You get free samples too ! We ended up buying some raspberry fudge (to die for) along with some turtle and regular chocolate and got some peanut butter flavor for free. It was all excellent and I recommend buying some if you ever visit there. After we finally got out of the fudge factory, we drove further back down the mountain to a nice picnic area where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the warmer temperatures. It had been an awesome day so far.

From there we left the park and drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway to get some pics of the fall colors before we had to head back home.

On the way back I just happened to catch a glimpse of the Big Lost Cove Cliffs that was absolutely amazing so I turned around and went back and parked in the grass along the side of the raod, setup my tripod and got some good pics of the cliffs that I had visited earlier in the year. It is truly an amazing experience to stand atop of these super tall and magnificent rock cliffs. The view of them from this angle shows the cliffs in their entirety and I was happy to get these pics.It also gave me a chance to practice using the larger zoom on my new camera.

It had been a wonderful day on the mountain and I can`t wait until the next adventure.

To see the complete collection of pics taken from the Grandfather Mountain State Park, please visit our Photo gallery here.