Day 2: Linville Falls

The second day, Sunday, was warmer and we weren't going to the higher elevations. We went to the heavily-trafficked Linville Falls, where the hiking was less rigorous, which was good for the second day.

The kids always enjoy nature's jungle gym... 

Here we are at the little falls. All the warning signs and gates kind of ruin the view.

We then hiked up to a lookout point over the gorge and a bigger waterfall.

Then we went to the other side of the gorge and took a rigorous trail down to the river below the falls. It was fun exploring, but of course hard to stay out of the water!

When we were at a lookout right above this area, Alice accidentally dropped her water bottle over the edge. Miraculously, I spotted it when we were down at the river, and Alice was able to retrieve it. Phew--I hated the idea of littering!

The hike back up the side of the gorge was a lot of fun, actually. We enjoy a challenging trail, and the kids are great at scampering up anything.

I feel bad for all those suckers spending their savings on taking their kids to Disneyland. This tree ride was free--and no line!

Back at the cabin, it was warm enough (barely) to eat supper on the deck!

But still cool enough to snuggle up with a fire inside while watching a movie.

Day 1: Grandfather Mountain State Park

For veterans day weekend, I booked us a cabin near Linville Falls for three nights so we could have a  fall weekend getaway. I'm still making up for lost travel time when I was so sick last year, and trying to get in as much hiking as possible before my next surgery in two weeks.

When envisioning the trip, I failed to fully take into consideration how far advanced fall would be in the mountains, and also that it would be much colder at a higher elevation. I'd been looking at forecasts for the town near our lodging, neglecting to check out the temps in the higher altitude where we'd be hiking.  Anyway, that's how we ended up hiking on Grandfather Mountain State Park in 30-degree weather.  Good thing I'd packed the winter coats and hats!

Leave it to Simon to find a little salamander in a creek even when it's freezing!

The kids were whining and bickering a lot at the beginning of the hike, so it wasn't long before I made everyone eat their morning banana.  It helped.

Raising a bunch of tree-huggers, we are.

After walking mainly through the forest for about a mile and half on the Daniel Boone Scout Trail, we finally emerged at "Flat Rock View" where we gazed at the largely leafless mountains and ate a our sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch, we took the Cragway Trail and had a good view from "Top Crag View." (They're very creative with their names.)

One cool feature we discovered throughout the hike was needle ice, which forms when the air temperature is freezing but the ground water is not.

We took the Nuwati Trail back to where we'd parked beside the Blue Ridge Parkway. The three trails we hiked made a loop of about 3-4 miles. It doesn't sound like much, but somehow it takes hours with kids, because we have to stop to eat and play a lot.

The kids also had fun finding actual icicles near a mountain stream.

We made it back to the bridge we'd crossed at the beginning of the hike!

It's so hard for us to be by such a lovely stream in the winter when we can't play in it!

Back at the cabin (Ryan's Rest), we enjoyed the evening sun.  There were lots of fall colors on the trees near the house, since it was at lower elevation. We had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, but it was a little too chilly to spend much time on the deck.

Zac and Simon enjoyed building a fire.

Alice and Simon played happily together with the Mouse Trap game.  Ha-ha, just kidding. Seconds after this photo, they returned to squabbling, currently their favorite pastime.

It's hard to take good photos through a screen, but trust me, the sunset was beautiful.

proCATstination

When you need to be packing for a trip, but there's a cat purring on your lap and you just can't get up and get working....

Lake Johnson fall hike

My fall hiking frenzy is partly triggered by the memory of how joyful it was for me this time last year to finally be able to walk again after having my surgery.  It's also motivated by my upcoming surgery, where I may be housebound for a while while I recover.  Gotta get out and hike while I can!

This morning I took the kids to nearby Lake Johnson, where somehow I'd never taken them hiking before. Because I got too warm on the hike yesterday, I was under-dressed this time and was freezing most of the time. Other than that, it was super fun.

The kids can't resist playing in water, even on a cool day.

Yates Mill Pond fall hike

I love taking hikes in the fall.  The weather is cool and all the mosquitoes are dead. You don't have to wear sunscreen and the my pouch doesn't get all itchy from sweating.  Plus, the leaves are usually beautiful.

For today's fall hike, we went to Yates Mill Pond with our friends Jess and Anna.

(Last sighting of the moldy pumpkins before being composted)

Cary Greenway Glow Ride

The Town of Cary hosted a Glow Ride on Friday night to celebrate 40 years of greenways in Cary.  We went with our neighbors, Mike and Kim.  The town provided fairy lights and glow sticks to decorate the bikes, and had planned a 1-mile or 6-mile route (complete with police at road crossings and designated lanes when a bike path wasn't available).  It was super fun, (although cold, and poor Simon didn't wear any gloves).  But the kids (and grown-ups) all did great on the 6 mile ride.  My butt was sore for about 2 weeks afterwards though.