Since it’s early autumn and there were no big SEC football games during the afternoon, the wife and I thought we’d spend some time in the mountains. We recently climbed the Lookout Tower at Frying Pan Mountain in the Pisgah National Forest. Black Balsam Knob Mountain is about ten miles farther south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Skinny Dip Falls is a popular area about three miles down the valley from the mountain top.
Black Balsam Knob Mountain is also called Black Balsam Bald because of its unique tree line. The whole area better resembles the Rocky Mountains than the Appalachians. It’s the only mountain in the area that features so many clusters of evergreens and a grassy top. It’s only about a mile hike from the road to the peak and it’s really easy, considering the elevation involved.
We got there pretty early, so there weren’t too many people around. But once we got down to the two waterfalls around Skinny Dip, the park was more crowded than I’ve ever seen it. All in all, we hiked about six miles and stopped in Brevard, NC on the way home to grab some lunch. The quaint mountain town hosts a small college with a famous infestation of mutant, albino squirrels. I snapped a bunch of photos and posted them below.
Click on the first image to enlarge, then use your right arrow key to advance:
