Stone Mountain

It's a challenge to explain Stone Mountain's terrain. http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/stmo/do.html

When you hike in North Carolina, you expect red clay, boulders, tree roots, streams/rivers, cliffs and possibly waterfalls. Initially, the beginning of the 5 mile summit trail looks like a usual mountain trail with roots and rocks. Although it quickly becomes very steep and rugged. You don't know what you're in for until you hit the first granite slope. But, it's a small one in comparison to what is ahead, still you don't know this, and you assume it's just an interesting occurrence. Nope. It's only the beginning of many.

This was my 4th time hiking at Stone Mountain, 2nd time to do the dome summit, so I knew what to expect, but it's still one of my most unnerving hiking experiences. It's not only the steepness of the trail, and it's not just the fact that the "trail" consists of finding the painted red dots sporadically placed far and wide across each granite slope. It's the sobering realization that if you fall, there is nothing to catch you and it would be a long, long, long slide to the bottom of the mountain. Sometimes we were hiking with our ankles bent at such a severe angle in order to keep upright. It's more like mobile tilting. Hiking shoes with soles that grip well are required because there are no boulders, trees or any type of hand holds. I never worry when I hike with my brother though. He's been trained in mountain rescue, and had completed some of his training at Stone Mountain and always finds a safe path.

Each slope is incredibly smooth except for the various pock marks from the frequent lightening strikes. Seeing them dotting every granite slope of Stone Mountain makes me wonder what the homesteader's at the settlement built at the base of the mountain must have thought when it stormed. It had to have been mind-boggling. I understand why no one is allowed near the Stone Mountain dome, Wolf Rock or Cedar Rock during a storm, but I sure would like to see mother nature's powerful display.

I love the rock & cliff colors found at Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain, but Stone Mountain is a dull gray granite. What gets to me about it is the utter magnitude of each rock face, the awesome solid mass of a mountain that you know has withstood the centuries in much the same state. It's like I imagine the lunar landscape might look like in person. Gray, forbidding, massive and yet compelling nonetheless.

Once we made the summit, we stopped for a picnic and restorative chocolate. :) And picture taking. I found two adjacent lightening strikes shaped like butterfly wings. I tried to capture the wonder of Stone Mountain, but the photo's I uploaded to Snapfish don't come close to conveying its unique beauty.

After lunch we hiked across the summit, through the woods and down to the waterfalls. This time, before we headed down to their base, I searched for their source and was surprised to find that it's a stream a lot smaller than I had anticipated. But oh my gosh, it goes so fast, and is so loud and violent anyplace where it's obstructed. I now understand how it creates the beauty and power of the falls.

We began the trail at 1pm and got back down to the comfort station as 5pm after pausing for a bit at the base to watch some rappellers. They looked like tiny specks on the side of Stone Mountain. If you look closely at the last few pics, you can see them in the crease of the long vertical edge.

http://tinyurl.com/yhamek

Downtime Up High

I hiked alone for three hours on Sunday. Alone enough to be by myself, but aware that other people would be on the same trail so I don't have to worry about being too isolated. I chose a strenuous trail that I know well because I wanted to test my level of endurance at this point. It had been several months since I had dared to try it. May, in fact.

Lost the trail after a few yards...blocked with trees...mudslides...piles of dirt and branches hid holes, so I had to be extra careful and hike around a lot of obstacles that are never usually present. We'd had a lot of wind and rain last week. A tad bit more strenuous than I had planned, but dayum it felt good to do it anyway and not hurt!

Found the clear trail along the bottom of the cliffs and was frustrated to have lost my water bottle somewhere down the mountainside. But, still had the chocolate, so all was well. I slowly made my way back up to the top, greeting rock climbers and other hikers along the way.

Laying flat on the top of my favorite cliff, looking down far below to the trail that I had been hiking on.... wind gently blowing all around, swirling my hair into my face...able to peek into the sun with my hair filtering the brightness of the setting sun.

Water drip-dropping from this teeny tiny stream going over the cliff to form a cascading sheen down the side. As many times as I have hiked that trail, I've never seen that stream present or the way it made the rock faces so incredibly beautiful in a different way than before. It fascinates me that each time I go there is something new and wonderful to discover.

The sunset.... the massive giant star dropping from the sky so quickly I could see it happening. How many times can we gaze at the sun and actually see its movement?? It had turned that unique shade of glowing-ember orange that showcases its power, but yet is dimmed enough that our eyes can still look on in awe.

I stayed until the lights started popping on down below me in the surrounding countryside. I always think they look like fairy lights, because they just magically appear where you didn't even know there was a house or road.

Snapfish Pics
http://tinyurl.com/y3n93d