Day 69 - North Carolina

Day 69

Dec. 19

Chimney Rock, NC

Dear Miss Smith
    Today we drove to Chimney Rock State Park to spend the day. After we arrived, we picked up a trail map and decided to start on the Four Seasons Trail. We packed a picnic lunch, and got the dogs ready to accompany us on our hike. Then we started on the trail.

    Priscilla was wearing her new Sunny-Green Hat, and walking Penelope. Katelyn was walking Timber, and I was carrying the picnic basket. One time when we stopped to rest because the trail was quiet steep, we saw some deer, but Timber and Penelope started barking and scarred them away. When we were about two-thirds of the way through the Four Seasons Trail, we saw some large rock formations, and stopped to take a picture and enjoy the scenery. Then we continued our hike.     Eventually the Four Seasons Trail joined up with the Hickory Nut Falls Trail, so we started hiking on that trail. While we were hiking down the trail we saw three different types of wood peckers, and we even saw a purple finch. Priscilla stopped to take a quick picture of it before it flew away. After we had been hiking for a while we came to a footbridge. We knew from looking at our trail map that Hickory Nut Falls was not far away. We crossed the bridge, and after walking a short distance we came to Hickory Nut Falls. It was 404 feet tall! It is one of the highest waterfalls in North Carolina. We were able to get close enough to the waterfall to feel its mist. It was quiet a sight. There was a picnic area close by, so we decided to stop and eat lunch.

    We set the picnic basket down on the picnic table, and pulled out the sandwiches we had made earlier that day, and started eating. From where we were eating, we could hear the roar of the waterfall, and see it cascading down the cliff. After we finished eating we walked back down the trail. Priscilla saw a Golden Crowned Kinglet and stopped to take a picture. She also had taken some pictures of the waterfall. This hike has sure been well photographed. After a while we came back to the spot where the Four Seasons Trail meets up with the Hickory Nut Falls Trail. We decided to continue on the Hickory Nut Falls Trail. Eventually we turned off the trail and headed up several flights of stairs to get to the Outcroppings Trail. Once we got to the Outcroppings Trail we headed to Vista Rock. When we got there, we took a short rest and enjoyed the view. Then we hiked over to Pulpit Rock to see the view from there. Timber and Penelope really seemed to be enjoying the hike so far, and they still seemed to have plenty of energy left, so we headed up to Chimney Rock. We climbed the 44 steps from the trail to the top of the Chimney Rock and as we were climbing, I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up.

    When we got to the top we saw an American flag waving in the wind. From the top of Chimney Rock we could see 75 miles away, and in the distance we could see Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village. We were at an elevation of 2,280 feet. The view was breathtaking! Priscilla took several pictures. It was about then that a sudden strong gust of wind blew Priscilla's hat right off her head, and hurled it somewhere down below. She was taking a picture at the time it blew off, and I wonder if you can see her hat flying away in it? We watched the hat until it was out of sight, but there was nothing we could do about it, so we continued our hike. We were hoping we would find it when we hiked back to the RV. The Outcroppings Trail has over 500 stairs and we were starting to get tired, so we decided to stop at the Sky Lounge and take a look at their gift shop. While we were there, Priscilla bought a black bear key chain for her Fifty-State-Hat.

    Then we headed out on the Skyline Trail. Our first stop was the Opera Box. At this point the trail was covered by a rock overhang. From here we could see Hickory Nut Gorge, and Lake Lure. The view was great. After that we hiked to Exclamation Point, the highest point of the park. It was at an elevation of 2,480 feet, which is 200 feet higher than Chimney Rock. From here we could see the entrance of the park way down in the valley below. After taking in the view and resting, we started heading back. It was so nice to finally be going downhill again.

    After a while we arrived back at the Sky Lounge. There was a 26-story elevator here that we would have liked to take down, but they don't allow pets on the elevator, so we had to hike back down the stairs. The stairs didn't seem any shorter the second time. When we got to the base of the stairs, we decided to take turns going up and down the elevator, to experience the fun of going 26 story’s in only 30 seconds. Katelyn and Priscilla went up first, while I stayed with the dogs. After they went up in the elevator, and I had been standing there for a little while, the elevator door opened and a lady stepped out. When she saw me her face grew puzzled, and she asked me how I had managed it. I thought that she must be talking about me handling two dogs at once. I told her that they were usually well behaved dogs and that I could easily handle both of them. Her face grew even more puzzled than before. She looked down at the dogs, then she looked back up at me. She asked me how I had gotten down before her, because she hadn't seen me in the elevator, and I didn't look like I had just run down the stairs. It was my turn to look confused. I was trying to figure out what she was talking about. Then I realized what had happened. She must have seen Katelyn and Priscilla up by the Sky Lounge and then taken the elevator down. When she saw me she must have thought that I was Katelyn and that I had somehow gotten down before she had. When this occurred to me, I had to try hard not to laugh. When I explained to her that I was an identical twin she started to laugh, and I could not help joining in. After that she asked me what the dogs names were, and what kind of dogs they were. I told her, and then she leaned down and patted them on the head. After we talked a little more, she said she hoped that we would have a great afternoon, and then she left. It wasn't long before Priscilla and Katelyn came back down the elevator. Then it was my turn to go up. Priscilla said she would stay with the dogs, so Katelyn went up with me. After we came back down, I told Priscilla and Katelyn about the lady's mix up, and they found it very humorous. Then we started heading back to the RV.

   While we were heading back we kept a lookout for Priscilla's hat, but we didn't see it anywhere. Then all of a sudden while we were walking back through the Four Seasons Trail, a deer ran across the path right in front of us! The dogs lunged forward, and Timber managed to pull his leash right out of Katelyn's hand! He started to chase the deer, but Katelyn called him and he came back over to us. Katelyn quickly grabbed his leash again. When Katelyn called Timber, I noticed two people who were walking a little further down the trail, suddenly jump and look around nervously at the trees. Then they looked at us, and we explained to them that one of the dogs name's was Timber, and that they didn't have to worry about any trees falling on them. They looked relieved, and we continued on our way. We made sure to keep a tight hold of the dog's leashes after that.

    When we got back to the RV we could hardly believe our eyes. There was Priscilla's hat hanging on the rear view mirror! After retrieving the hat, we got into the RV. There was just enough time before supper for Priscilla to show us her hat collection. Katelyn and I liked her Miami Hat the best. After Priscilla showed us her hat collection, we all had supper and are now heading to bed to rest up for our big day at Biltmore Estates.

From,

Kristina