I was extremely fortunate to have a Father’s Day trip to Grandfather Mountain, NC with my family this past weekend. We camped at Grandfather Campground and drove up to do a day hike through several trails on the top of Grandfather Mountain. It was the first multi-day trip for my wife and 5-year old son. We drove up Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday afternoon. I hope you enjoy the video.
Friday 9/16
After an unexpected issue with changing the oil in my truck in the morning, we eventually left town about 2:30. The rain started falling between Wilkesboro and Boone, but fortunately let up as we arrived to the campground about 6:30. After an hour and half camp set-up, we were able to get a fire started by 8:30 so we could cook dinner and of course, s’mores.
Saturday 9/17
We woke up to a great bacon, eggs, & toast breakfast and arrived at the lower parking lot about 10:30. We hiked the Bridge Trail that goes under the swinging bridge to access the bridge. We crossed the bridge and rock hopped to the top of Linville Peak. We crossed back over the bridge and entered Grandfather Trail with an immediate uphill climb through rocky terrain. We then took Grandfather Extension Trail back down to the parking lot and stopped for lunch. Our plan was to take Black Rock Trail to a rock outcropping with views several other peaks and valleys, but we turned back about 15 minutes into the trail due to changing weather conditions. It started raining pretty strong as we returned to the truck. On our way down the mountain, our son wanted to stop by the animal habitat area, so we did and waited out the rain for about 20 minutes. We saw 2 bald eagles and were treated to a “behind-the-scenes” tour by one of the workers at the animal center. We were treated to a barred owl in rehab for a broken wing, 2 otters (17 year old & 4 year old), 2 cougars, and a black bear. As we were leaving the animal habitat area about 4:00, the rains returned and didn’t stop until about 8:00. We were able to get another fire started in very wet conditions, ate dinner and went to bed.
Sunday 9/18
We had another great bacon, eggs, & toast breakfast and broke down camp. We left about 12:00 to return home.
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Originally Posted by TrailSlug
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