Brevard, Bent Creek, and Boone, NC

April 24
Damp and cool, with not a lot of rain first thing, though it picked up during the morning, and still in the 40s, but supposed to turn back to Spring soon! The van had a little trouble getting out after a couple inches of rain, and I had to operate a vehicle for the first time in nearly ten months while Rudy pushed - no big deal. We headed a little further south, stopping at Sliding Rock, which we thought might be some geologic feature, but was actually a natural 'waterslide', and Looking Glass Falls - big and pretty.

No Sliding Rock takers when 50F after a couple inches of rain

Looking Glass Falls

Eventually got into Brevard for groceries and spent some time at Blue Ridge Bakery for treats and internet. We went overboard on the treats- my  favorites were the Outrageous Brownie and gingerbread men (bready and spicy), the pecan bar and cherry almond bar were also very tasty, and we also had a blueberry muffin and eclair (Rudy picks, I just sampled and was happy to let him have the rest!) - I'll note these were saved and enjoyed during the next couple days! We also stopped by a bike shop (the Hub, which also has lots of camping stuff, a tavern, and typically some food trucks around), but they didn't have much for recommendations on the best areas after the wet weather - just in general that higher ground might be better. We went back onto another forest road in Pisgah, closer to Brevard, with dispersed camping - quite a few people around, but not bad. We took a short stroll, mostly to check out a nearby 'group' camping site, and found a biker to chat up - he didn't have much mud on him and gives us hope the trails weren't too bad. Ate pasta and played Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 25
Cool and foggy, but some blue sky! I got up relatively early and got in a short run before we went back into Brevard for a little more town stuff, including stopping by Bracken Mountain Bakery (they were closed yesterday), which has more bread than treats - we picked up walnut whole wheat bread, a couple scones and a ginger-molasses cookie - all pretty good. We then decided to try Dupont State Forest for biking. Most of the trails were happily drier than expected, the doubletrack ones certainly had more water than the singletrack, and all of it has a very sandy/rocky base, so bikes and legs got sandy but no rutty mud! My loop became more of an out and back due to a river crossing - looked a little unruly from the recent rain.

Uncertain depth...not trying this one along!

Rudy's loop was more successful, and he was out for quite a while, enjoying the lovely weather. We were a little later getting back to camp, made quick shells and cheese, and got on with more Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 26
A little warmer and clearer this morning, good for a longish run for me. It was mostly gravel road, with a failed attempt at trail as I went on an overgrown forest service road instead of the singletrack a little further on. A chill morning otherwise, then we headed back to Dupont to an area north of the prior day. More good trails, I even rode Ridgeline, labeled as 'advanced' but not very technical, just steep and fast with big berms, jumps and such. I wasn't out too long so had a couple hours before Rudy finishes his ride, I got to hang out with the bees.

They piled up in the bug netting - eek!

Rudy met some Vermonters out on the trail to ride with the next day, we met for a beer at the Hub
to plan, since there was no cell service in the woods. Back later to camp again. We experimented with barley cooked in pickle juice, didn't work perfectly, may try it again though, adding more water to the brine, which I don't think soaked into the grains very well. Just one game of Hand and Foot - Rudy win.

April 27
Up and at 'em relatively early for biking with the Vermonters before mid day thunderstorms supposed to hit. We had some distraction after a pair of birds knocked themselves out on the side of the van - I enjoyed being able to easily identify them as Northern Parulas.

Female Northern Parula

Male Northern Parula

The female looked to be in rougher shape, but actually recovered and flew away sooner than the male did (he was actually still on the ground when we biked away, but gone, with no signs of foul play, when we returned.) Luckily there was very little light rain while I went out with Rachel and the dog, Ross, up Thrift Cove Trail (marked as beginner, but really a longish, steepish, semi-technical climb) and down the lower part of the 'advanced' Black Mountain, not as crazy as the upper sections apparently - doable and fun for us! We chatted for a while about biking and traveling as Rudy and Henry were out on a bigger adventure, with rain slightly increasing - they didn't get poured on though. About noon the Vermonters continued on with their vacation, and we had another lazy rain day, though it didn't actually rain a ton. Fantastic Four, tea, reading, and puzzling. Dinner was bean burritos, and fun was Hand and Foot - one win each.

April 28
Cool morning. My ambitions to get up early for a run didn't happen, but still got in an OK run, legs a bit tired.  The sunny morning was good for a couple flower pictures though.

Yet another variety of Trillium

May Apples

We packed up and headed back north, stopping by the Ranger Station for water and talked to an older couple from South Carolina that were pretty excited about our trip - haven't gotten sick about other's enthusiasm yet! We continued on to Bent Creek Experimental Forest just south of Asheville. A popular place with nice trails, though lots of intersections. I didn't mind all the stopping, still tired legs. A lack of planning ended up with me not hitting the trails I intended, but what I got on was enjoyable, and I loved the hot sunny day. Rudy had a longer fun ride, as usual. After the rides, we skirted around Asheville, stopping at REI for Rudy to get a new pair of bike shoes, I also picked up some clearance arm sleeves. We also made a stop at Stone Bowl for Korean food - good to us! We traveled further north to the Grandfather district of Pisgah National Forest to just clean up and sleep. Got in a quick game of Trivial Pursuit - Rudy win.

April 29
A beautiful morning, relatively warm, nice for another early rise to get to Boone by 9 so Rudy can help out with a big trail work day at Rocky Knob - yay! I was selfish and ran the trails while others were improving them.

Little Irises

Boat Rock Trail - its a little rocky

More Trilliums!

Rocky Knob has some skill parks, good signs, and nice views

After the trail work and some lunch, there was a group ride and I opted to bike too (requesting they didn't wait for me!) I'm glad I did, I felt better and rode better than I would have thought and actually had fun! After the ride and a little shopping, we made our way back to Travis and Lauren's to steal some showers and help celebrate Travis's birthday - they were super nice letting us hang out uninvited at their closer-friend party. There were some light bouts of rain, but otherwise a wonderful evening - lots of biking conversation!