12 July 2024
I’m on cloud nine! I finally got into some woods, did a short hike, saw a waterfall, and didn’t trip or fall going down or coming back up or get dizzy spells.. True, it was only 0.6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 46 feet but it’s a start.
When I got out of bed this morning, the temperature was 59°F. What a difference from Camden! Right now it’s 78°F and the humidity must be -100%. The only problem is the traffic is murder.
Breakfast was served on the upper patio deck and I got to meet the other four occupants of the inn. Two were leaving today and heading back to Charlotte and two are staying one more night for a granddaughters wedding. The Charlotte couple pointed me to Elk Falls. My AllTrails had a comment that if you are mobily challenged, you needed to skip this. They said posh, do it and just watch out for the roots.
Bobbie gave me directions and for once, I followed them correctly. It takes you down a winding road that goes from black top to dirt.
Your first stop is at the top of the falls.
There’s a nice overlook there and when you look down, you can see where you are heading. I don’t know why they say the elevation gain is 46 feet when the falls themselves are 65 feet. When you see the people below, it looks a lot more than 45.
After the over look at the upper falls, you continue to descend over many, many tree roots, rocks, and sometimes stairs. I finally reached the bottom and a couple of teens were photographing and I got them to take one of me. Ignore the Buddha Belly.
It’s a beautiful waterfall. I don’t know why it’s not more popular but everything is poorly maintained and poorly marked.
Then I had to do a stop motion photo.
I love the blue sky in the upper right with the clouds passing by.
I hiked back up and I was surprised that I was not out of breath nor dizzy. I counted it as a victory. Little did I know defeat was just around the corner.
I’ve never visited Blowing Rock (not the town). I thought I would go there and see it but as I started to leave Banner Elk on the road to Blowing Rock, traffic was backed up to Banner Elk and it was all dead still. I reversed and headed to Beech Mountain.
I didn’t know what to expect at Beech Mountain but it’s a really nice little town at the top of, you guessed it, Beech Mountain. They have ski shops in abundance, restaurants, etc. and to be honest, I liked it better than Banner Elk. They also sell snow chains. I suspect they’ll need them come January.
When I got to the top, there was a pull off for a trail map. As I started looking for some short trails, I got extremely dizzy to the point my legs started to collapse. I tried to make my way back to the car to sit down (stupid, I should have sat down at the trailhead) but fortunately the dizziness passed.
Janet from Four Oaks wants me to get checked out for Afib. I told her I would bring it up to my cardiologist when I next saw him.
I returned to the Lodge at Riverrun and sat out on the patio by the river and read and relaxed. I told Bobbie I wouldn’t be at breakfast as I needed an early start tomorrow. I hope to leave around 6:30 or 7 because it’s an 8 or 9 hour drive tomorrow to St. Michaels, Maryland. It’s the longest drive of the entire trip.
Bobbie is trying to get me a reservation at Americana Restaurant which apparently has an amazing chef rated the best in North Carolina. She has an in. I hope to return early, early to bed and early to rise.
Stay tuned!