When we got there, there were people everywhere! We were a bit overwhelmed with the beauty of these mountains at first. All the fall colors we so bright and covered the whole mountainside. Seeing God's creations is so amazing and I love having the opportunity to tell the kids all about it. Here's a picture looking down on the town of Chimney Rock from where we parked our car.
Chimney Rock and Lake Lure
Lake Lure is the water that you see in the picture. While there at Chimney Rock, we overheard some people talking and they said that's where Dirty Dancing was filmed. That's like one of my all time favorite movies! Here's a picture looking up at Chimney Rock...and yes, it gets it's name because it looks like a chimney.
Chimney Rock
So, it was time for us to go to the top of the Rock...that's what I'll call it from now on. We had 2 options. Take the elevator to the top or climb some 400 steps. Thank goodness we chose the elevator! We waited in line for a few minutes for an available ride up. When we got to the top of the Rock, this is what we saw!
Top of the Rock!
Next on the map was to go see the Opera Box. It's a part of the mountain that is cut out (naturally) that looks as if you are sitting in an Opera Box. But, there was no elevator to take us up to this, so we climbed about 100 or so steps! I didn't actually get a picture of the Opera Box itself, just pictures of the kids inside the box. I also got some pictures of the Rock from this view as well.
The kids relaxing inside the box
Chimney Rock from the Opera Box
The American Flag on top of Chimney Rock
Next on the trip was to climb more stairs to the Devil's Head. This part of the mountain was really freaky! I was surprised at how it really does look like the profile of the devil's face.
The Devil's Head
So, here we are, on top of this mountain and now it's time to go back down. We thought it would be easier to go down the steps instead of waiting on the elevator. WRONG!!! I was a nervous wreck! The steps were so steep and I was freaking out that one of the kids would surely fall off the side of the mountain. Trey was in front and the kids were in the middle and I was at the back. In this position, I got to see all their little stumbles! It got to a point to where my knees were so shaky, I thought I was going to fall. Trey and the kids thought this was so funny! I don't like heights at all and combined with being on steep, narrow steps on the side of the mountain didn't help much either! Here's some pics of the views on the way down!
After we climbed down like 500 stairs, we were at the start of the Hickory Nut Waterfall Trail that was about a mile long. That was a short trail from what we've done in the past. So, we decided it would be fun to see the waterfall. It would've been a fairly easy trail if my knees weren't knocking and I wasn't outta breath from the stairs! It was tougher than I thought it would've been, but it was still pretty fun. I always think hiking is so much fun until I'm in the moment! As I'm walking along in pain, I'm thinking to myself what have I done?! But anyway, the Hickory Nut Falls were pretty and we actually got to climb around under them and touch the water. So, it was worth my pain and suffering!
That was our trip for the day. We were all worn out and couldn't wait to get back to the car. We had a nice, relaxing ride back home where we settled down and watched the Tigers play. It was such a wonderful day with the family being able to enjoy God's creation. Until next time...
The Rookard Bunch
PS- You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
1 comment:
Sory I missed the second post. I love the pics especially the waterfall and the flag! I wish I could have went with you! Well...almost...if it weren't for all the walking!
The kids look adorable at Halloween. Seems they had fun. We missed you this year. Can't wait until your visit!
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