For our last hike in the North Carolina mountains, we chose a little trail up to Craggy Pinnacle, just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
For as short as the trail was, the views were incredibly rewarding.
While we were up there, we talked to a couple from Wisconsin. "I'm glad we skipped the Biltmore for this," one of them said, and I had to share the sentiment.
For our fourth day in North Carolina, we decided not to venture out quite as far and just stayed close to our hotel in Asheville. In the morning, we visited the local arboretum. It was fairly expansive, and included:
a "quilt" garden,
a bonsai garden,
a trail through some Carolina woods,
and a rhododendron forest
Lunch: Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville
Afternoon: Asheville Zoo
ROAR!
Dinner: Pizzeria Ritrovo for pizza and from-scratch-gelato
On day three in NC, we decided to drive north on the Blue Ridge Parkway and catch a few hikes along the way. We started with a little trail through Craggy Gardens.
Then we went a little further and stopped at Mount Mitchell State Park.
There were several lingering rhododendrons at higher altitude . . .
. . . and lots of other wildflowers on the trail to Crabtree Falls (the sixth and final waterfall of our trip)
By this point, Ramona was really getting the hang of napping on the go.
She actually missed seeing these falls because she was asleep, but when she woke up she immediately asked where the waterfall was. I think she was a little bit disappointed when we told her we had passed it.
At least I'll have these pictures to show her.
