Some Trip Notes and a Poem from Ranger Lou!

Friday, 09/24/10 Day 006

So, while we're cruising down the parkway, we're debating whether or not we should stop at Mt. Mitchell, at 6,684 feet, it is the highest point east of the Mississippi. Anna Marie has never been there. I might have been around ten years old when i was there on a family vacation to the Blue Ridge. As I recall, there wasn't much to see. Besides a fire tower that was closed to the public, it was cold and damp. I don't think we got out of the car. It was apparently good enough justvto be able to tell people that we had been to the highest point east of the Ole Miss.

Well we decided to go to the summit and it was great decision. The weather was perfect and visibility was great. Beside the large parking lot, there is a refreshment stand, a gift shop and the Mt. Mitchell Museum. There is now a 280 yard long, red stamped concrete path leading to the summit. At the summit is a spiral ramp to an observation platform. In all directions, the views are spectacular. We could see mountains in Tennessee and Clingman's Dome in the Great Smokies to the south.

Dr. Mitchell was a professor at the University of North Carolina, perished while exploring the mountain. His body was entombed in a local church's grave yard for a year before people felt it appropriate that his final resting place should be on the mountain. His tomb sits at the summit at the base of the observation platform.

We enjoyed lunch and the spectacular view at the highest restaurant in the eastern US. The restaurant is about one mile from the summit.

We chose the stay in the Mt. Pisgah Campground in the Pisgah National Forest About 45 miles of the parkway cuts through the Pisgah National Forest. 

We attended two campfire programs, both conducted by Ranger Lou, who is a twelve year live aboard RV'er. She made great presentations and offered the following poem to a camper who never heard the term "scat" before:

"It's a four letter word that starts with an "S" and ends with a "T." 
It comes out of you and it comes out of me.
But we can't say that so we call it "scat."

We're never disappointed by these ranger presentations. 

When we settled in to the camper for the evening, the night was cool and still. It appears that a cold front is on the way. We are expecting rain tomorrow evening, Sunday and into Monday.