October 12, 2010
| Today, we hiked in Southwest NC on two trails. Starting at the Glen Falls parking lot, we first did the trail down to the bottom of the upper falls. Next, we came back to the parking lot and hiked the Chinquapin Mountain Trail loop past the 5 look-off points and continued on to The Mountain Center for our lunch break and continued the loop back to the parking lot. Total for the day approx. 7 miles.
HIKERS: John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Karen Brown, Phil Brownrigg, Greta Driggers, Jim Driggers, Don Preece, Vic Robson, Dan Ross . TRAIL INFO. – Two nice trails. The Glen Falls Trail is a very popular trail that leads to three nice waterfalls. The trail is steep in places but the falls are worth the walk. It is important to stay on the trail and resist exploring the falls since many have been injured or killed by slipping on the rocks above the falls! The Chinquapin Mountain Trail starts at the parking lot for Glen Falls and leads the hiker across the ridge of Chinquapin Mt. to 5 marked lookoffs with nice views of the NC mountains. Directions: The Chinquapin Mountain Trail starts at the Glen Falls parking lot located off of Highway 106 (the Dillard Highway) about 3 miles south of Highlands, NC. Look for the sign to Glen Falls. Another great day for a hike! Mostly Sunny and cool with temperatures ranging from 55 to 70 degrees F.Total distance hiked – 7 miles. FLOWERS IS BLOOM: Blue Aster, New England Aster, Bushy Aster, Heart-leafed Aster, White Woods Aster, White Snakeroot, Wreath Goldenrod, Mountain Gentian, Indian Plantain and Ladyfinger. BIRDS IDENTIFIED: blue Jay, Carolina Wren and American Crow. OTHER FAUNA: chipmunk and Grey Squirrel. |
 Another great day for a hike in the NC mountains! |
 Nice view from above the upper falls. |
 Upper Glen Falls! |
 Mountain Gentian! |
 On the Chinquapin Mountain Trail, we had views from 5 lookoffs. |
 Fall colors are starting to pop! |
 We visited the Mountain Retreat and Learning Center and had lunch on one of their decks! We were there by invitation. |
 The observation tower at The Mountain Center. |
 Awesome mountain views from the tower! |
 View 2! |
 Looking down from the tower. |
 A Bee-utiful flower photo! |
 The OFHC gang for today’s hike. (l-r) Phil Brownrigg, Karen Brown, John Bellamy, June Bellamy, Dan Ross, Don Preece, Vic Robson, Jim Driggers and Greta Driggers. |