Hanging Rock

We went to Hanging Rock park today. It was our first excursion outside of Raleigh since moving to North Carolina this July. It wasn't just next door by any means, but it only took us two and a half hours to drive there. And it was absolutely beautiful. I am not used to such views, and certainly not used to having them so close at hand. I have put up a few pictures here, but I took 143 (after removing the blurry ones), and started taking them from the car on the way up. I know we must have looked like tourists, but who cares? The Fall colors are really coming in brilliantly, and the color just gets better the further west you go. So by the time we got to the park, we saw leaves green, yellow, orange, red and cranberry. And it was cold. Actually cold! Well, what we call cold, anyway - 60 for the high (not cold) but starting the hike at about 50. And that's cold to me.

It is amazing how fast the time seeps away in the mountains. We were there for hours and did very little actual hiking - 1.5 mile treks to this point, half mile treks to that one - I guess it all adds up, but we did not really cover too much ground. What kills you is the climbing uphill and lurching back down. Frozen fingers at the base of the trail and overheated at the top. And then there's the view. And it is breathtaking. It isn't even very high, but it feels like you are on the top of the world.