The Big Climb

 A couple things about today...  It’s Good Friday, the day we celebrate Jesus death on the cross and taking our sins with him, and it’s a day off for us.  It’s a day off for everyone here at the Cove also.  Parking lots are empty, there wasn’t the usual activity around the maintenance building starting at 6am.  The only activity here is at the Chapel, where Will Graham gave his Good Friday message.

It was a beautiful clear day, a bit chilly starting out, but it made for some great hiking.  And hike we did.  Since this was the best looking day of the weekend, weather-wise, we started out early for a hike to the lookout.  This is the highest point on the property and a 4-mile hike from where we are camped.  We packed lunches and snacks and took the eBikes up the road to the Training Center, which eliminated the first mile.  It also eliminated 350 feet in elevation gain.

The next three miles took two hours to hike.  It was super steep most of the way so we plodded slowly.  We had dressed in layers because of the chill and most of those layers were soon tied around our waists.

This area is heavily wooded but the trees are just starting to leaf out, so we could see for a fair distance on either side of the trail.  We saw two black bears as we were hiking.  The bears probably heard us long before we saw them so by the time we saw them, they were running away from us and soon disappeared into the trees.  I didn’t have time to get the camera out so I don’t have any pictures.  I don’t think those bears wanted their picture taken.

We also saw several deer bounding across the path.  Other than that, it was very quiet.  We were the only ones on the trail.

I recorded the elevation where we left our bikes and again when we reached the top.  Over the 3 miles of hiking, we gained about 1400 feet in elevation.  The health app on my iPhone says I climbed the equivalent of 157 floors of stairs.  However you record it, I can feel it.

We were rewarded with a commanding view of the entire Cove area along with Greater Asheville and the mountains beyond.  So cool. God has certainly revealed Himself through the creation He has made.

The Cove area.  Can you find the steeple of the Chapel?

The Training Center and Shepherd's Inn, far below

We didn’t see any bears on the way down.  We sat down on one of the few benches along the trail and had our sandwiches for lunch and to give our legs a rest.

Also on the way down we listened to the livestream of Will Graham’s Good Friday message.  Very good message focusing on one particular statement that Pontius Pilate said during the trial of Jesus: What is Truth?   What indeed. People say that your truth and my truth may be two different things.  If I say that this is my truth, I’m also saying that I’m the source of truth.  But there’s only one source of truth.  Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.  Truth is a person, not an emotion or an idea that someone may have.  And that Person died for us on Good Friday to set us free from the bondage of sin.

We arrived back at the RV around 2pm and it was still a beautiful day, so we decided to do some non-hiking activity.  We drove for 25 miles or so on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  This is a two-lane road with a 45 mph speed limit that wanders along the ridges of the Appalachian highlands.  The brochure from the National Park Service lists this as America’s Favorite Drive and I can see why.  The Parkway is 469 miles long, perhaps someday we’ll drive all of it, but for now, 25 miles was pretty spectacular.  Lots of overlooks and amazing views from the road.  Also quite steep and some very technical driving, especially in a large vehicle.

We ended up taking a side trip up to Mount Mitchell State Park, which is listed as the highest point east of the Mississippi River, at 6684 feet.  There is an overlook at the top which offers a 360 degree view of the entire area.  The nice thing about this overlook was that we could drive there.  Probably put a lot of wear and tear on the RV transmission and brakes, but saved additional wear and tear on our legs.

One of the advantages of taking the RV all the way up here was that dinner came along with us.  We made dinner in the parking lot and then headed back the way we came.  We would have had to drive another 40 miles to connect with a way back to the interstate.  I probably didn’t have the daylight or the fuel to do this.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain.  So we’re glad we did this all today.