Hanging Rock State Park

Today I headed up to Hanging Rock State Park for a nice 5 mile hike. The drive up there was pretty easy, only 2 hours away. After we all met up at the visitors center, we decided to climb the Moores Wall Loop trail (red circle trail markers) I have to say that the loop trail was about 75% up hill with the last mile down hill. It was a good workout and the best part, is that I kept up with the fast hikers and was one of the first on top of the mountain. Which made me feel like a rock star! Whoo Hoo!

The trail started out nice and flat, but it gradually started going up hill. Some of the rhododendron were already blooming and the pink flowers just popped against the green in the woods. It was beautiful. The weather held out for us too. It was over cast for most of the hike. So the sun wasn't beating down on us as we climbed up. I hiked with Sara the entire time and she chatted away as I sucked in air just to keep up with her. She brought her dog, Oscar, with her and it made me wish I had brought my chocolate lab. He would of loved it, but it was just too hot today, so I chose to leave my doggies home. As the trail climbs to the top, there is about a 1/4 mile section of some nice breezy ridge walking, then it starts to climb up again, this time in a more rocky, rooty, steep fashion. Lots of natural rocks forming big steps so the last mile felt like a stair master. But it was so worth it when you got to the top. There was a little tower that provided you with an awesome 360 view and the breeze felt so good. We had a picnic lunch, waited for all the hikers to trickle in, and admired the view for about 45 minutes. It really was a gorgeous day. It's like the sun came out just for us as soon as we got to the top. After pictures and lunch, (Ron had brought chips and cookies to share with everyone and they were so good,) we climbed down the last mile and headed home. It turned out to be a beautiful day and my hiking confidence was boosted enough for me to decide to go backpacking next weekend with some of the fast hikers. They are going to climb Mt. Mitchell, the tallest mountain in NC, spend the night, then climb down the next day. Wish me luck! I may not be the first up the mountain, but I'll get up there eventually! Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!