Day Two: Ashville to Linville Falls

Morning sun as we climbed toward Craggy Garden

100th  mile on the Parkway

Again we had to sneak out of the campground in darkness, trying to be quiet and not wake up our neighbors. We stopped for Breakfast at the Waffle House, and had a decent meal for a reasonable price, and the waitress was friendly too.

Derek and Kelly dropped us off at the intersection of Route 70 and the Parkway.  It was a cool but comfortable morning since we were starting at the modest elevation of Asheville.  The climbing started right out of the box, like the day before.  Despite the filling breakfast, I started getting hungry within the first half hour.  I noticed that I had to be eating pretty regularly for the first 3 hours or so in the mornings.

On the way up we had some nice views of mountain homes, and even someone sleeing in the open bed of a pickup at one of the first overlooks.  As we climbed upward we passed mile marker 369, which meant we had completed our 100th mile on the Parkway.

As we continued, we saw a number of local riders out for an early Sunday morning ride.  We passed 2 riders at one overlook, and they caught up to us as we were finishing a food and water break.  Our timing lead to us riding with them.  They were locals who would often ride to Craggy Garden on a Sunday morning and had also ridden to the top of Mount Mitchell once.  They asked about our ride, and gave us enough information about the Climb to Mount Mitchell, for us to feel that we could accomplish it.  We arrived at Craggy Garden a few minutes after they did.

Mount Mitchell, this was a popular sign

View from Mount Mitchell

The road to Mount Mitchell is bit steeper than the regular grades of the Parkway, but it is also extra detour from the Parkway itself.  When Dale was planning the itinerary for this trip, he allowed time to make take the side trip if we thought our legs were up to it, if we were on schedule for that day and the weather/visibility would make it worthwhile.  Since we made it to Craggy Gardens pretty much on schedule, we decided to make a go for it.  The road was also a bit straighter, which made it easier for cars to pass us, We had the gears and the time and put it in the long grind mode.  Near the top another local rider caught us, and I rode with him for a mile or so.  He was checking out the climb to prepare for a ride in October with his cycling friends from his former home in Ohio, to celebrate his 60th birthday.  Near the top a dear dashed across the road in front of us.  Due to my heavier bike and bags, I couldn't keep pace.

Near the top, there is a visitor's center, parking area and a trail to a observation deck on the actual peak.  There was a gentle breeze and the temps were comfortably cool.  We had to stand in line to get a picture at the sign.  While we were hanging out at the top, eating our lunch, I offered to take a sign picture for a young family.  the  a noticed my Penn State socks and said he was a fan.  He (Dean) was actually from the Boston area and wrestled at Edinboro.  He and his family had lived in Chester Springs PA before moving to Charlotte, NC.  They were on a day-trip to visit the peak.

Later in the afternoon, looking back toward the Black Mountains

So all that climbing paid off with a nice descent, back onto the Parkway with even more downhills.  the afternoon destination was Little Switzerland.  The road continued to curve up and down, and we had nice views of the Black Mountains as we headed east.  As we were struggling up one of the many climbs that afternoon, Dale asked me what % of the Parkway so far was flat, and my response was something like "less than 1 %, and that is rounding up".  In other words, the terrain was making it tough on us mentally and physically.  After the nice cool breezes in the higher elevations, it was getting hot at the lower elevations, especially in the few open spots.  We limped into the Little Switzerland General Store for a much needed food and water break.  It was crowded, and there was a line at the cash register but we endured.

Dale had a very good handle on the terrain to come and warned us there was one last 3 mile climb to our evening campground at Linville Falls.  Even knowing we were close and the climb was pretty hard, and it seemed to stretch on forever.  Just when you think the top is around the next bend, it keeps going up.  As we were struggling slowly up a steeper part of the climb, a van passed us and the passenger yelled out "Go, you can do it!"  after a string of cars passed, someone encouraged us again from another van with "Go, you can do it!".  After they were up the road a bit, Dale said "they must be related",

Post Office in Linville Falls

The climb finally did end, and the few miles to the campground were mostly downhill.  The campground was really nice,

We had a great dinner at Spears BBQ in Linville Falls, a very rural North Carolina Village.

Cateye 

77.79 Totals miles
7:35:07 Riding time
42.1 Maximum speed
10.2 Average speed