Pilot Mountain State Park was established in 1968 and boasts an elevation of 2,420 feet. No one is allowed to the top because of ravens nesting there, but you can walk all around the ‘knob’ and throughout the rest of the park.
We had a gorgeous drive up! You can hike, but it’s about 9 miles round trip and we decided we should start a little more slowly since we haven’t done any ‘true’ hiking in a while. We still got in about 5-6 miles with all the other shorter trails we did.
And we managed to avoid most of the kids there. When we arrived, there were 4 school buses in the parking lot.
The air was filled with the sounds of children talking and laughing. Nice, but we didn’t really want to follow behind or lead them around the trails. We chose a difficult hike first since we knew they wouldn’t be there, and soon left the noise behind. Later, there were more busloads. And just as we were leaving the last trail, a woman who was just beginning to lead her troop on a trail, breathed to us, “Here we go. 55 second graders.” YIKES! She must be a Saint! But by all evidence we saw today, the kids were all very well behaved.
There’s an observation area at the parking lot and you can walk around and read the info signs, but we just took in the view while waiting for the bathrooms to be free of children.
Look!!
It’s the Bluebird of Happiness!! : )
Let’s Hike!
Our son, Kyle gave us a selfie-stick for Christmas 2016, but we couldn’t find it and finally gave up and bought a new one. . .
Sorry, Kyle!! : (
The chains are for rock climbers (crazy people!)
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any bears . . .
Nor Goldilocks . . .
See Blaine?
At one time, we were walking along enjoying the views and nature when we heard this buzzing sound. Now, we already know that sound carries up the mountains from previous hikes we’ve taken around the country, so we thought maybe it was mechanical from the valley, but the more we listened, the more we realized it was natural. Bees! Hornets! Whatever, they were, we never found them (probably a good thing), but they sure were loud!
We continued along the same trail and noticed a lot of vultures hanging around both sitting in trees and soaring close to the trail. Why? Then suddenly, the unmistakable, undeniable, strong scent of decomp! Something was definitely, without a doubt, dead on the mountainside just below the trail. PEEE-YEEWW!!
And the vultures were circling . . . again . . . but this time, not for us.😊
We finished the first trail and headed back to the Jeep to pick up our lunch. We had the perfect place in mind!
It doesn’t look like it, but there’s LOTS of rock around me.
I’m not THAT crazy! Not like Blaine!
After lunch, we took off on the trail that goes around Pilot Mountain. We’d already seen most of the views from our first hike and also from a short spur to an observation area, but we hadn’t seen the ‘back side’ yet.
Another observation area
Those aren’t vultures, they’re the protected ravens. : )
I thought this looked like a finger pointing to God. It looked better from the trail. : )
One last short trail and we’d be done with this park.
It was as we completed our return trip and were heading toward the bathrooms, we passed the second grade class. Once again, at the bathrooms, there was a line of little people. Bathrooms had to wait until we got home. 😊