tea berry-blue

I am way behind on everything, but I am happy to report that our trip to the mountains was in fact very lovely and a huge success. The weather held and so we were able to complete our planned hike from the Grandfather Mountain Extension Trail to Calloway Peak, as well as go out the next day to check out trails on the east side of the park.

I am having troubling finding the weight of words to describe how amazing the hikes were. The trail to Calloway Peak is an advanced trail with lots of exposed ridgeline, slippery runs supported by cables, soooo much boulder scrambling, a "chute" that is a steep slide of rockface that involves hand-over-hand scrambling (that I failed to get photos of because I wanted to not die), and 17 ladders that help climbers along the trail and access the various peaks (MacCrae, Attic Window, Calloway), tunnels, and viewpoints along the way. Sometimes the ladders are vertical, sometimes they are horizontal, sometimes they have fun angles in the middle. Sometimes you are basically scrambling on hands and feet across the edge of a rock face with nothing between you and the wild glory of the Blue Ridge. (Side note: a very large number of rocks required hiking my feet well above hip height to scramble, so I am very glad for mobility exercises.) ( +4 )

The trail is breathtaking, but the work to get up it will teach you something about yourself. I have always loved climbing (trees, rocks, fences, you name it) but there were even moments here where I wondered briefly if I was in over my head. ( +2 )

My photos do not do it justice. There is so much fir that parts of the trail smell like Christmas, while early blooms of mountain laurel, bluots, sand myrtle, and jewelweed, among others, sprout around and through rocks. ( +1 )

We ended up climbing 2,191 feet of elevation to arrive at Calloway, which is 5,946 ft about sea level. We stopped to have lunch on MacCrae peak along the way, so it took us about 4 hours to reach Calloway - luckily we were able to scramble down at a much faster 2.5 hours, and we opted on that route to take the Underwild trail to avoid having to retreat down a few of the more challenging ladders in reverse. However, even the Underwild is its own beast of navigating trails that are little more than an assortment of rocks to pick through.

The view from Calloway Peak

The full album of photos from the Grandfather Trail is here.

The next day we had been expecting rain and cold temperatures. The cold temperatures remained but the chance of rain dropped to zero, so we headed out to the pick up the east side trails via the Asusti and Tanawha trails, cutting over to the west on the Nuwati, south along the ridgeline on the Cragway until Flat Rock, and then looping back on the Daniel Boone Scout and Tanawha trails. The Asusti, Tanawha, and Nuwati trails reminded me very much of the creekside trails of Stone Mountain, but once we reached the Cragway we were in for another strenuous climb along a rocky ridgeline. That day was partly overcast, and as we climbed we would get warmer, then pause to bundle up as the winds picked up and the clouds cleared out. But the Cragway views looked almost autumnal, thanks to the early color of budding trees. It was hard to believe we were only about 2 miles from Calloway Peak.

A view of the colors of the Cragway.( +1" )

While this was a significantly easier hike (only about 700 ft of elevation gain), we still had lots of good opportunities to run around on rocky peaks, interspersed with groves of rhodendron and azalea. We stopped to have lunch along a Crag, before making our way to the next vista.( +1" )

The Cragway eventually takes you to Flat Rock, which is, as promised, a large, flat rock overlooking the valley. Trees have grown up around it, but if you find the right spots you can still get a decent view. ( +2" )

The full album of photos from the Nuwati-Cragway-Tanawha loop is here.

We eventually made our way back to our cabin (which was also lovely, it sat on 12 acres and had a lovely little creek, many beautiful trees, including my favorite tulip populars, and even a perfect rock ledge of its own), where we were able to soak back in some warmth.

All in all, we felt very accomplished. For myself - I can't explain, but being in the mountains, surrounded by the wild...it always feels like coming home. The beauty there brings me to tears every time, and I just feel more a part of everything. There is also something to just soaking up nature and clean yummy mountain air and stretching your body in fun and challenging ways under the sun and clouds and sky. Especially with the one you love. We were sad to leave, but are still thinking about it and already thinking about our next big excursion. I may be talking about it a while.

May you be well, may you be loved, may you be at peace, may you find beauty in any given moment. ♥

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