Flat Top Mountain Trail (Part One)

The best trail I hiked while we were at the Lodge was the Flat Top Mountain Trail. It's a National Trail of some note. It passes over Flat Top Mountain which is one of the more impressive peaks in the area and the tallest of the three Peaks of Otter (and the only one of the three that's over 4,000 feet in elevation). There are spectacular views from the summit and at several points along the roughly five-mile trail.

I had Carole take me to the northern terminus of the trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway where she dropped me off and drove back to the Lodge. By hiking over the mountain and back down to Abbott Lake I could end my hike at our room at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. Simple. Years ago I had hiked half the trail by starting at the lake and then hitting the summit and backtracking to the lake. But that had been on a very rainy day with no views at all. Plus, I'd missed out on hiking a little more than half the trail between the summit and the Parkway. This way I'd see everything I'd missed before, plus retracing my hike of several years back--this time in optimal scenery weather.

Carole dropped me off at about 9:30 after we'd had breakfast. It was pretty cool--about 20 degrees--with stiff winds blowing through the forest. After I began my hike and as I gained elevation on the peak, one thing that very much impressed me was how well engineered the trail is. The route follows the easier contours of the peak and does not tackle the slopes head on. Neither does it use very many switchbacks, instead moving easily over the slopes and meandering easily without any extremely steep climbs. It was almost like following a railroad bed and this very well may be the case--I couldn't say. But it was one of the easiest and most pleasant climbs of that height that I can recall. I'm pretty sure that I gained about 1600 feet between the Parkway and the summit, but I hardly felt it.

Also, I seemed to have the entire mountain to myself. I didn't encounter any other hikers on the entire trek. I had complete solitude and quiet for the entire duration. It was just me and the wind.

This is one of the easiest trails I've ever hiked. I hardly broke a sweat.

I guess they just decided to let this snag lay as it fell across the trail. It was easy to step over. You can see that the terrain was getting rockier at this point.

Climbing the slopes. This moss was about the only green in the forest.

The closer I got to the top, the more rugged the slopes.

I was getting even with some of the higher surrounding peaks.

This big patch of ice was actually a pain in the ass. I had a hard time getting around it without slipping.

This was at one of the first great views: Cross Rock. About half a mile from the true summit.

Peaks of Otter Lodge Review

I never seem to post actual photos of the inside of the Peaks of Otter Lodge and the lodge rooms. So I'll post a few that I took this time.

The Lodge now has a new concessionaire running the place. I didn't notice any drop in service and they have done a few things that I consider improvements. One thing that they have done is add wide-screen TVs to the rooms. In the past there were no TVs at the lodge. I tend not to watch TV on such trips anyway, because I'm generally hiking. But most people like to at least relax by watching television after spending the day walking or exploring the Parkway.

The restaurant was pretty much the same as I remembered it. The food quality might actually be a little better. One night we had the prime rib buffet which was very nice.

While we were there the Lodge was not heavily occupied. I doubt more than ten rooms or so had been reserved our first night, and on our second night that fell to about three guests. There was plenty of peace and quiet and we sat at the same window table for all of our meals. You can't beat the view overlooking Abbott Lake with the imposing mass of Sharp Top Mountain looming above it all.

If you've never stayed at Peaks of Otter Lodge you've missed out. I highly recommend it.

The front of the lodge on our arrival.

I took this one from the patio of our room.

From the opposite side of Abbott Lake.

Lodge office and restaurant.

View from the Lodge grounds.

The Lodge restaurant. Very comfortable. Excellent food and service.

I took this through the window where our table was located. You can't beat the view!

Ever-present deer herds around the Lodge.

Lodge office and restaurant the morning we left (in the rain).

The new TVs (and Keurig coffee makers).

Home!

Well, we're home from Peaks of Otter Lodge.

We had a good, relaxing trip. I got in a couple of hikes...one really nice one. More tomorrow after we've recovered from the drive back.

The view from above Cross Rock on Flat Top Mountain. The big mountain in the background center is Apple Orchard Mountain, the highest peak in that area of Virginia and one of the "tallest" mountains in the state--that is, one which shows a high level of relief from base to summit.

The view from Cross Rock, near the summit of Flat Top Mountain.

The Lodge!

Heading out for our favorite National Park inn!

Later, folk!

The Lodge and Lake and Sharp Top.

Good ol' Sharp Top Mountain!

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park is one that surprised me. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it all that much, but I was very impressed with it. We were only able to spend one entire day there, so barely scratching the surface is an apt description of our time there. Still, we saw a lot and I was even able to hike to the summit of one peak.

Someday I'd like to visit again. But Carole says that she saw enough of it and doesn't care to return.

We'll see.

Carole at Skull Rock.

Carole took this one of me at a small reservoir in the Park.

Typical terrain in Joshua Tree. I got some kind of cactus bud stuck in my boot walking around out there. It was NOT easy to remove from the sole of said boot. Jove help you if it gets in your flesh.

This was actually really high up on a jumble of boulders. Maybe thirty feet up. I have several online pals who go to Joshua Tree to rock climb.

New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! HERE'S TO A GREAT 2014!

When I show this to folk, many times they think it's somewhere out west. But it's right here in North Carolina.

Carver's Gap, Tennessee. Last January.

National Parks

Carole and Andy and I love touring National Parks. Of course we're generally stuck seeing the few we have here on the east coast. But I want to visit another west coast Park this year. One that Carole wants to see desperately in Crater Lake. It's not as high on my to-see list as it is on hers, but we're thinking about it, since it would put us closer to seeing some friends we have in the Pacific Northwest.

So...maybe we'll be able to go there this year.

Our all-time favorite National Park trip was the one to see Yellowstone. Here are some photos from that trip, all firsts.

This was our first night at Yellowstone...at a little motor lodge just outside the Park. I had to have a photo of Carole and Andy in front of this goofy tree.

First encounter with a Yellowstone Park sign.

First mountain in the Park.

Our first family photo in the Park.

This was the best Andy could do with this shot. Our first sighting of a bison. He was pretty excited.

Our first hot spring/geyser.

First waterfall in the Park.

Working Farm (Historical)

One of the coolest things at the Kings Mountain State Park was a reproduction of a working 19th Century farm. Most of the building were original structures that were dismantled and transported to this location. There was no one official on site the day we were there, so I couldn't get information on some of the buildings. So here are photos.

We think this was housing for a farm worker. It was not the main house.

Barn and smithy.

For the rendering of sorghum into syrup.

Small vineyard.

This was a very impressive cotton gin. Apparently in working condition.

Stairs to top floor of the gin.

Under the cotton gin building. Wagon for transport of both raw cotton and processed cotton bales.

Cotton gin on right, fallow field in center, corn crib on right.

This would have been the main house of a prosperous cotton farm.

We could find no indication of what this building could have been. I suspect it was representative of a springhouse or well housing.

Kings Mountain National Military Park

We have a lot of local parks I've rarely visited; and a few that I've never seen, at all. One that I've been to a couple of times is the Kings Mountain National Military Park where an important Revolutionary War battle took place. And right next to it is the Kings Mountain State Park (SC) when I had never visited. So today we went to see them.

Just now I am exhausted and very sleepy. I'll post more photos and such, and details tomorrow.

National Park entrance.

The lake.

Interesting dam design. No spillway. Instead, the excess water just overtops the dam and creates a very nice waterfall.

I don't know if this was built by the CCC, but it looks like something they'd have built. It's a bath house at the lake and appears to be abandoned now. We looked in the windows and could see that all of the plumbing had been removed.

The office of Kings Mountain STATE Park. Not the National Park.

Hiking Decisions.

I'm poring over my hiking maps and various Internet sites to figure out a couple of good dayhikes in the Peaks of Otter area for this coming week. One place I've hiked near but never have seen (except from a distance) is the Devil's Marbleyard. It's an enormous talus field in the James River area. I've never figured out why the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia sometimes exhibit talus fields, whereas I've never seen them in most of the southern states where I hike.

I'll be very close to the Appalachian Trail, so I could do some hikes there. Although I generally don't like to hike the AT because of crowds. However, as this will be in January, I might be able to find some solitude even there.

We'll see.

Typical view in the high mountains of Virginia.

Tough hiking.

I don't see much of this kind of thing in Georgia, Tennessee, or North Carolina.

The top of the talus field on Torrey Ridge.

I wouldn't want to hike long distance in this kind of stuff, but it was fun to venture out on it for the views.

Looking back at the talus fields from another ridge.