Mt. Pisgah

This is a great trail, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  An hour from

home and we were at the Mt. Pisgah trailhead.  Pam was my hiking

buddy today and she was a little apprehensive about climbing 

this mountain.  She had nothing to worry about, because she did a great

job.  The trail is only three miles round trip, but it is up a mountain,

so it offers a nice workout - on the heart, going up and on the knees

coming down!  From the parking area you look up at the tower and

think, 'wow, that's where I'm headed."

The weather was "iffy" but we decided to go for it anyway.

We met these nice volunteers from the Carolina Mountain Club, who

were working to maintain the trail. Watching these gentlemen who were

obviously older than we were carry lumber and chainsaws up the mountain

was a motivator.  Good grief.  If they could do that, we had no excuse.

It was a rocky trail, so we had to watch our footing.  The last thing I wanted

to do was fall or sprain an ankle.  Slow and steady was the perfect formula.

There were beautiful plants and wildflowers along the way.  

What a view.  So beautiful!!  But we weren't to the top yet.

More climbing up these rock steps.    This is such a pretty trail.

That tower is getting closer.  

When we made it to the top, we took a little rest with these day

campers who had passed us on the trail, practically running up 

the mountain.  Ahh, to be young and have that much energy.

Here's proof that we made it to the tower.

Notice the clouds rolling in....yeah.  A few moments after reaching

the summit, I snapped these shots

and then we were completely in a cloud with zero visibility.   This

isn't the first time this has happened to me on this trail.  I hope

to make it here one,sunny day when I can see in every direction.

We sat down to enjoy our  "lunch in a cloud" and would have

stayed there if the lightning and thunder hadn't shown up.

A few strikes of lightning too close for comfort and that observation

deck completely emptied.  This was the last place we wanted to

be in an electrical storm.  The only person worse off than we were

was the painter that was half way up that tower!

We had a nice rainstorm all the way down the mountain.

Oh well, I got to try out that rain poncho that I've been 

carrying in my backpack.

I stayed pretty dry from my knees up.  This is what the trail looked like

on the return trip 

and the rocks were very slick.  We made it down with no mishaps.

It was a great hike, even with the rain.   Climbing a mountain is an

empowering experience.  We loved the way we felt when we were

standing on the top.  Thanks Pam, for joining me.

*MYOF Goals  #1- Take 50 hikes.