Gusto, Helpdesk and Pepe went on a much overdue trip to Jocassee. We did an overnight stay at one of our favorite spots along the foothills trail. The weather was great however the evening star gazing was hit or miss. Some light cloud cover interrupted our view from time to time. It was Helpdesks first long trip with the new Eddyline Fathom and Pepe's first long trip in the Storm GT. Both performed well and carried all our gear with no issues.
Looking forward to our next trip so we can check out the falls.
Helpdesk, Gusto, and Pepe headed out to a new location. The initial plan was to try the new put in on Fishing Creek and paddle south to Great Falls Lake. However, once we arrived at Nitrolee access area, the put in was covered in a few inches if not close to half a foot of mud. Not wanting to make a total mess of our boats, shoes and equipment we decided to look for other options. Here are a few photos of the Nitolee access.
We ended up traveling a few miles north on highway 21 to the Fishing Creek access. From there we completed just over 5 miles in a loop. It was plenty hot but we took a break about half way and practiced kayak rescues. All three of us were successful getting back in with the help of a partner kayak.
There was surprisingly a low number of boats on the lake for a Sunday afternoon in mid summer. It worked out great for us on this trip, however.
Well, this year you can't call it the Ski Bowl because we didn't actually ski. The weather had been pretty warm headed into Super Bowl week and therefore the conditions on the slopes were questionable at best. So, instead of skiing we ended up doing a hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Moses Cone Mansion. We have done this walk before and it's ~5 miles round trip up to an old fire tower. Great views from up there and really nice and well maintained trails.
On Saturday we headed over to Roan Mountain State Park. We parked at Carvers Gap (elevation 5512) then walk a fairly short distance to Round Bald. The views were awesome even with a few clouds overhead
After the trip to Roan Mountain we headed back toward Banner Elk. On the way we stopped by Elk River Falls. The short hike was much easier this time without the mud and ice.
We finally got some snow late in the day on Sunday. If the temp had dropped earlier in the day we probably would have got 8-12 inches. But as it worked out we only received about 1 to 1.5 inches. It was nice to see it cover the ground.
Another year in the books. Can't wait to do it again next year.
