A Waterfall Hike, A Dragon & A Stone

Ashville, NC
Taps RV Park


Saturday started out very hot and humid, so we thought it would be a great day to hike to Crabtree Falls.  This moderate, 3 mile loop starts out at 3280' and has a gain of only 480 feet.

 

Our destination is a 70' waterfall that is known to be one of the most photogenic in the area.  You hike up the ridge then alongside the stream in a canopy of hardwoods.

 

And before you know it, you're there.

I like this picture with the hikers in front of the waterfall.

Up close.  The cool mist felt great.

 

After crossing the stream and hiking up the other side, I took this picture looking over the edge of the top of the waterfall.

 

There are a lot of little surprises in the woods if you look closely. 

I liked the different shapes and sizes of the leaves.  These were about the size of a marble and there were some leaves on this one tree that were about 1 foot across.

 

 

 

There was an overlook trail we wanted to hike so on the way back we pulled in.  It was a short trail but you hiked through tunnels of flowering Catawba Rhododendron with a wide open view up top. 

The Tree of Life

Great views.

 

The trail is pretty smooth but there are some rocks and roots to watch out for.  An older gentleman took a fall and split open his eyebrow.  His family helped him down while another couple gave him some bottled water and I had some large bandges and wet-wipes for him.  I think he'll be getting stitches later.

 

The Dragon Tree

Posing in the Dragon's Eye

Our next Christmas Card photo?

There are so many things to do and see in and around Ashville, but since we have been here before we avoided the touristy things like the Biltmore Estate.  The historic downtown is cute and full of chic shops, restaurants and breweries. We were looking for Wicked Weed Brewery that a friend of ours, Mike, suggested.

Steve did some sampling and loved the Menage-a-Freak.  It was a triple IPA.  One of the best he's ever had.  The double IPA, Freak of Nature, was a close second. We had to try their Boiled IPA Peanuts, a specialty around here.  We split a small plate of Grilled shrimp, marinated artichokes, cured olives and Romesco. Romesco is a roasted red pepper and almond spread.  Delicious! Thanks for the tip on the brewery Mike!

 

A coffee-shop-in-a-bus.

This reminded us of our good friends, Doug & Deanna's, ranch in CA.

The Lesser-known sister stone.

For those of you that don't know, loquacity means "talkativeness".  Don't feel bad, I had to look it up.  As we were standing nearby so I could take a picture, I overheard a guy telling his friend not to kiss it or the Blarney Stone as people pee on them.  Good to know.  When we make it to Ireland I'll just settle for a picture.  Besides, most people who know me will say I already talk enough!

 

 

Another High Point - North Carolina

Ashville, NC
Taps RV Park



The only times we like to make reservations are holidays and when we really HAVE to be some where.  I seem to forget though that popular places, especially being limited by cell service, are something I need to keep in mind.  After finding more poor cell service where we wanted to stay, we scrambled calling about 20 places to find another campground.  We struck out everywhere until our last call.  It was his last spot and he was holding it for us.  What luck!

Site #B3 at Taps RV Park in Ashville, NC

We also don't normally care for the tighter spots and higher prices that private RV parks generally have.  We both agree that Taps is an exception.  It's a very small mom and pop place.  The sites have a little more spacing and the park is nicely landscaped.  The manager, Bill, was a very nice guy and very helpful all around.  It was $37 for FHU compared to $50 at some of the other parks.  We really hate to pay over $25 but we know that the prices out east are typically more than the west. 

We also really loved that this park was just a few miles from downtown Ashville and only minutes to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway is known for its scenic beauty. The parkway is America's longest park running for 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina linking the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of the Appalachian.

It was a pretty drive with several pull-outs.

We're headed up to the highest peak in North Carolina.

  

A short, but steep walk up.

Very nice observation tower.

Up at the top of the tower is this nice state of NC with the geo-marker in the spot where we're standing now.  See it in the upper left of the state?

Thought the view this direction was pretty funny.

Cool, another high point!

 

The grave of Elisha Mitchell.  Pretty cool final resting place up at the top.

  

 

A little disappointing.  You can barely make out the falls!  You can see them in the picture below to the left of the dirt looking area.

 

 

Steve was happy to get to the Sierra Nevada Brewery.  It's one of his favorite back in California.  I guess they opened one up here not too long ago.  It's actually an amazing company.  They recycle just about everything, they have solar, grow some of there own food that they serve, they give beer making leftovers (mash) to nearby farms that supply their meat.  They even offer in-house daycare for their employees and the employee's family members.  They have their own doctors and dentists all covered by the company.  Very impressive.

They had delicious food.  We had some great marinated beef and pizza with arugula.  YUMM!

Next up some great waterfall hikes and a wooden dragon.