Grandfather Mountain 2022

                                       View from across the Mile High Swinging Bridge on top of Grandfather Mountain, NC Photo by Mac. 

Brian and I-- unable to find Linville Falls, pivoted and visited Grandfather Mountain today. Last year was Brian's first trip to this famous natural wonder.  We got there at 8 A.m.-- at opening and THOUGHT we would start the day with a crossing of The Mile High Swinging Bridge. 

                                            A selfie of us on the summit early today. It was WINDY, and my hair blew everywhere. 

I made my first attempt to cross the bridge in the morning, but the wind brought back some memories of past storms that I would rather not relive, so we drove to the animal preserve further down the mountain. We trained to climb the half-mile trek to the top, but after seeing that I would literally need to climb on my hands-and-knees over BIG boulders of limestone. We retreated to the parking lot and wisely chose to drive to the top of the mountain.  There is a steep staircase to the top, and we got some cardio exercise climbing the step

We walked through the small but well-cared-for animal preserve and saw all the critters who reside there. A special treat was seeing the big black bear with her eyes open-- last year she slept during our visit. 

 We returned to the summit after lunch and the wind conditions felt favorable for me to successfully cross the Mile High Singing Bridge successfully.  I carefully walked across the steel-and-cable structure-- keeping my eyes on the back of the person walking directly in front of me.  making it safely to the other side of the gorge, I breathed a sigh of relief and decided wisely that I am too old to climb the rocky boulders for an even higher view of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Mile High Swinging Bridge-- taken from the opposite side of the bridge from where Brian stands { you can't see him, but he is there }  Photo by Mac 

 elevation of where I stood on the lee side of the bridge.  I am not fibbing, the bridge IS really a mile in the sky!  Photo by Mac

 Me AFTER I'd conquered the Mile Hi Swinging Bridge. As you can see- I am proud of my accomplishment. Photo by Brian. 

                                          A view from Mile- High. Photo by Mac. 

                                     Us at Split Rock/ Sphinx Rock on Grandfather Mountain.  I am glad I wore both a sweatshirt and a jacket-- It is cooler and windy a mile up in the clouds! 

If anyone is curious, this is the web site to the park. It is well worth the price of admission-- if just for the FANTASTIC highlands views. 

https://grandfather.com/

Perhaps the trip back to Grandfather Mountain was what The Creator intended for us today. We arrived back at the house tired but happy. 

Peace...

~Mac