Black Mountains, North Carolina - May 25th to 28th, 2023
We visited the Black Mountains before, during Season Three, as we explored the Blue Ridge Parkway (Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia & North Carolina - October 23rd to November 2nd, 2021). Back then, we visited Mount Mitchell twice, but couldn’t enjoy the views because of the heavy fog. So we decided to stop again as we passed through the area during Season Five, hoping for better weather.
Thursday was a long travel day for us. Just the Google Maps driving time from Poinsett State Park in South Carolina to Black Mountain Campground in North Carolina was about four and a half hours. As Ann was checking our route on Google Maps, she noticed she had a saved location, the Stone Soup Market & Cafe in Landrum, South Carolina, along the way. She doesn’t remember how she discovered the restaurant the first time, but she believes she picked it out during Season Two, when we were trying to dip down into South Carolina to make sure we visited that state (Cumberland Mountain State Park, Tennessee - November 15th to 16th, 2021). It sounded like a cute little place and the reviews were good, but it was closed on the day we were in South Carolina back then. A grocery store and gas station were nearby, so we made Landrum our main stop for the day this time.
As we were about to pull into the parking lot for Stone Soup, we noticed a sign that said no RV Park. We assumed that meant they didn’t want any RV’s parking in their lot, so we parked at the hardware store a block away and walked over to the restaurant. The restaurant was larger than we imagined, with plenty of both indoor and outdoor seating. The place was also big on charm.
The food was fantastic. We started out with an appetizer of fried green tomatoes. They were topped with pimento cheese, pepper jelly, and bacon jam. We learned from our friends with the condo next to Huntington Beach State Park that pimento cheese is a local specialty (Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina - May 17th to 21st, 2023). Pimento cheese was invented right there on Pawleys Island. At first Ann was not that excited to try pimento cheese. She associates pimentos with olives, which she does not like. However, she found the pimento cheese delicious.
Keith ordered the sausage and prosciutto pizza while Ann tried the Stone Burger. The burger had pimento cheese along with a special sauce. For a side, she chose one of the deli salads that she spotted in the case when we walked in. All the deli salads looked delicious, but Ann decided on the corn salad. All the food was fresh, local, and excellently prepared. Our food was filling. Keith couldn’t finish his pizza, so we took half of it with us. Somehow Ann managed to finish her meal. She still hasn’t broken the habit of cleaning her plate that was instilled in her as a child. The desserts looked wonderful as well. So we bought a raspberry cream pie to go. It made our day to find such a gem.
To get to Black Mountain Campground, we drove up route 80 from Marion. It is a steep, windy road, but beautiful. Just a short distance after crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway, we turned onto South Toe River Road. The last two miles before the campground is a dirt road, but it was in pretty good shape. The campground, run by the National Forest Service, is pretty nice. The sites are spaced not too close together and the bathhouses have flush toilets and showers. The campground is right next to the trailhead for quite a number of hiking trails.
Since we knew rain was in the forecast starting on Saturday, we wanted to make the most of the good weather. So, before dinner, we hiked to Setrock Creek Falls. It was only a 1.2 mile, round trip, trail. A perfect one to squeeze in for the evening.
Candy and Kevin were the campground managers. They work for Find Outdoors, who is contracted by the National Forest Service. We stopped and chatted with Candy at the campground office. She was very helpful. There is no cell service at the campground, but the host gets a detailed weather forecast for both the campground and up at the peak of Mt. Mitchell and posts it outside the campground office. Our main goal for our stay was to see the top of Mt. Mitchell on a clear day. We had visited it twice two years ago during our visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway. However, both times it was socked in, with zero visibility. The following day, Friday, was the only day during our stay that was not predicted to have rain. Our host also informed us that we should go in the morning, because clouds were predicted for the afternoon at the peak.
The Mount Mitchell Trail goes from the campground up to the peak. However, it is over eleven miles with an elevation gain of 3690 feet. Even though our host said the trail does not have any scrambling, the distance and elevation gain was pushing beyond our comfort level. Besides, we wouldn’t get up to the peak until afternoon. Instead, we decided we would drive up to the peak, then go for a short hike from the top. Mount Mitchell is about a 45 minute drive from the campground. We could get up there early and stay for a while, which would increase our chances of getting to see a nice view.
Friday we drove up to Mount Mitchell as planned. We got an early start and were at parking lot by 9:15 am. The sun was shining, but there was still a little bit of a haze, and clouds were forming in the distance. We walked up to the observation platform to take in the views while they lasted. It was so much better than the last two times we were there. Back then, we were surrounded by a cloud, with such low visibility that you could barely see the observation platform from the start of the entrance ramp, let alone see any of the surrounding mountains. The views this time were spectacular, well worth coming back for.
The Deep Gap Trail (also known as the Black Mountain Crest Trail) starts at the opposite end of the parking lot from the walk up to the observation platform. At the start of the trail is a nice picnic area. After using the restroom facilities, we got our backpacks out and our hiking boots on to get ready for a hike. We took Deep Gap Trail over to Mount Craig, then just a little be further over to Mount Tom. The trail was beautiful. A handful of wide open panoramic views were interspersed with dense, moss covered woods. The trail was a little rough, rocky, and full of tree roots. There were only a few short scrambles, but nothing too difficult or scary. That just made the trail a little more challenging and fun. At Mount Tom, we sat down for a small snack to enjoy the view. To get to Mount Tom and back, we covered only 2.2 miles with an elevation gain of 607 feet, which we completed in an hour and a half.
When we got back to the parking lot, we fixed our lunches and ate them over at the picnic area, again taking in the wonderful views. Since our hike was short and the weather was still nice, though cool, we walked the short Balsam Nature Trail. There were not any views from the trail, but it was a lovely walk through the woods. We gained another three quarters of a mile with another 89 feet of elevation gain in about 25 minutes.
The clouds had rolled in, but there was still plenty of sunshine. On our drive back to the campground, we took a four mile detour to continue down the Blue Ridge Parkway to Crabtree Falls. We added another hike to our day, trying to take advantage of the nice weather before the rain on Saturday and Sunday. The hike starts out near Crabtree Falls Campground and winds its way down to a beautiful waterfall. The trail makes a loop and is well marked. On the way back we followed the route in AllTrails instead of following the signs. The AllTrails route makes a short cut through some of the campground, shortening the hike by maybe a quarter to a half mile. We probably should have followed the signs instead. The route we took was 2.9 miles with an elevation gain of 594 feet which we took an hour and a half to complete.
Our total hiking for the day was 5.8 miles, with a total elevation gain of 1290 feet for which we were on trail for three and half hours. It was hike 22 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023. That was a respectable amount of hiking for one day, so we headed back to the campground.
When we arrived at the campground, the office host came over to tell us about the Blue Ghosts. She was having everyone meet at the campground office at 9:20 pm so we could walk over as a group to see the Blue Ghosts. She seemed so excited. She had seen them the night before and wanted to share them with everyone. Of course, we had to ask her what the Blue Ghosts were as we were not familiar with them. They are a rare type of fireflies that are only found in this part of the Appalachian Mountains. For two to four weeks each year, during their mating season, they flash light blue, staying lit for a minute or longer, instead of flashing on and off like most fireflies. Cool!
About 25 of us met to see the fireflies. Our host handed out red flashlights to those who didn’t have any, so the light wouldn’t affect our night vision. We had brought along our headlamps which have a red light setting. Then she led us down the road to a small trail that went over to the river. As we entered the trail, we all turned off our lights. Right at 9:30 pm, almost on cue, the fireflies turned on their lights all along the trail. Keith tried to take a video, but it didn’t really work. We just took in the moment and enjoyed it. It was so nice of her to share the experience with the campers. Thank you, Candy and Kevin!
Saturday we drove into Burnsville to do laundry. The rain held off until evening, so we could have snuck in another hike, but Keith was fighting a cold and we were running out of clean clothes, so laundry day it was.
After sleeping in, we left the campground after 10 am. The laundromat was in a gas station on the edge of town. It had plenty of machines, in good working condition and fairly clean. The attached gas station convenience store was, well, convenient for restrooms and picking up a can of soda to drink while doing the laundry.
By the time we finished our four loads, it was after lunch time and we were hungry. We continued down Main Street to the town square. Burnsville is a cute town, with little shops and restaurants along with a pleasant park in the middle of the square. The Garden Deli looked inviting, so we went there for a late lunch. Even though it was after 1 pm, the place was packed. We didn’t have to wait long to get seated at a table. The couple of people in front of us were waiting to pick up their to-go orders. It was a large place, with plenty of seating both inside and outside. It was Saturday on a holiday weekend, but our friendly waitress informed us that it is always this busy, except maybe during the winter months.
The Garden Deli had an extensive menu. However, they are only open to 2 pm daily, then open for dinner at 5 pm Thursday through Saturday only. Keith ate the grilled ham and Swiss on rye with macaroni salad while Ann ordered the BBQ pork on a Kaiser roll with potato salad. It was good, traditional cooking. The potato salad tasted like the kind Ann remembers her mom making. Even though we were quite full, we had to split a piece of apple pie a la mode for dessert. To work off some of the calories, we took a short stroll around the town. Then we drove over to the nearby grocery store to pick up a couple of needed items.
A light rain started as we drove back to the campground. We were a little concerned that we would fill up our cassette toilet on Sunday, as it was supposed to rain all day long. That meant we would probably be using our own toilet all day, instead of using the campground bathhouse. Normally, the cassette will last us four days, but that’s if we only use it after dark. We didn’t see a dump station on the campground map and decided to stop and ask our friendly host if there was a dump station nearby. No sooner than we discussed that, Ann spotted a small dump station sign at the sharp bend in the dirt road, just a mile from the campground. We turned down the small dirt road and followed it around about 50 yards. Then there it was, a dump station all by itself, with nothing else around. We’re guessing it was located there so it was far enough away from the river and in a convenient location for the several Pisgah National Forest camp sites and campgrounds in the area. Whatever the reason, we were glad Ann spotted it.
As the evening continued, the rain became heavier and steadier. Even though we were camped under the trees, we could hear the rain hitting our roof all night long. The rain continued most of Sunday. It was a pretty steady rain throughout the day. A few times the rain lightened up and we would walk a couple of laps around the campground to stretch our legs before the rain got heavy again. The rest of the time we hung out in Red Tail. The temperatures were cooler, so we had been running the furnace for a few days. We switched propane tanks after finally going through one tank of propane since we last filled up in Natchitoches, Louisiana (Cane River National Heritage Area, Louisiana - March 16th to 18th, 2023).
There was no cell service in the campground. We kept busy with working on blog posts, listening to podcasts that we had previously downloaded, reading books, working on our German language skills, and planning future travels. The day actually went by pretty quickly. After dinner, the sun finally came out again.
Even though our goal was to see the view from Mount Mitchell, it was not the highlight of our Black Mountains visit. We enjoyed the hikes and the Blue Ghosts more. It is just a reminder that life is more about the journey than the destination.
Check out our related video: Black Mountains, North Carolina
(Ann)