Tag: Mount Mitchell

TBT^2: More Mountain Musings

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the mountains—the last trip was hiking with a friend of mine in early August—and the mountains of western North Carolina were devastated during Hurricane Helene.  One does not typically associate the Appalachian Mountains with severe hurricane damage, but there you have it—the hurricane hit in just such a way that western North and South Carolina suffered terrible damage.  My hometown of Aiken, South Carolina still has massive piles of leaves and tree trunks awaiting pickup from overextended State work crews, and it’s been two months since the storm.

Regardless, it’s fun to look back on my various mountain adventures.  I find that I need to get up to the mountains periodically to rest and recharge.  I’m not sure when I’ll get back up there again, but I’m looking forward to it, hopefully with Dr. Girlfriend, her dog, and Murphy along for the fun.

With that, here is 18 January 2024’s “TBT: More Mountain Musings“:

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TBT: More Mountain Musings

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Over MLK Weekend my girlfriend and I took the dogs up to around Mount Mitchell, high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia.

I love the mountains.  The mountains are in my blood, and although my home is the coastal South Carolina, every so often I need to baptize myself in the solitude and ruggedness of the Appalachian Mountains.

This trip was not my first to this region.  I went there four years ago to celebrate my older brother’s fortieth birthday.  Here’s a bit my travels during that trip.

With that, here is 21 September 2020’s “More Mountain Musings“:

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More Mountain Musings

The Portly Politico2 Comments

I made it back from my weekend trip to the mountains near Burnsville, North Carolina.  I slammed that SubscribeStar Saturday post out after being up since 5:30 AM, two hundred miles of driving, and a full day of family fun in Asheville, so I skimped on some details, even if I hit the main points I wanted to address.

It was a very rushed trip, with my girlfriend and I departing around 11 AM Sunday to take in some sights before rushing back to prepare for our busy workweeks.  We managed to spend a little time in Burnsville, which is named for Captain Otway Burns, a sailor and hero of the War of 1812.  A statue of Captain Burns, erected in 1909, stands in the town square, with an inscription that reads, “He Guarded Well Our Seas, Let Our Mountains Honor Him.”

From there, we headed into the mountains, eventually reaching the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Our destination was Mount Mitchell State Park, which provides easy access to the summit of Mount Mitchell.  Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in the Appalachian Mountains, and the highest in the eastern continental United States.

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