7. Conditioning Hike Waterrock Knob and more – May 7

This week I did two great hikes. The first was to Waterrock Knob off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Balsam, NC. It rained during the night before the hike clearing the air for stunning vistas. This was a challenging hike with lots of slippery roots and terrain that was either straight up or straight down. Total distance was only 3.7 miles with an elevation gain of 1286 ft. but the technical difficulty made up for the short distance. I love flowers, gorgeous views and waterfalls and this trail had two of the three. Along the way we visited the site of a Cessna 414 which crashed into the mountainside on Thanksgiving Day 1983. It rests at 6292 ft. elevation. Unfortunately, the two passengers did not survive.

The second hike was in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard, NC. We hiked to Shuck Ridge Creek Falls with a round trip mileage of 10 miles and 1617 ft. elevation gain. We were blessed with pretty flowers, a lovely trail following a stream for much of the way, and a waterfall too.