Mt. Pisgah from the Pisgah Inn

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/14/2025	5 miles	3 hours 26 minutes	956'	1.6 mph	277.7 miles

Parking: 

• Pisgah Inn, Blue Ridge Parkway

Map:

• Gai GPS app
• Pisgah Map Co., Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• Cross the street from the Pisgah Country Store and find the trail. Follow the staircase downhill. Turn right onto the Mount Pisgah Trail. Follow the trail and turn left onto the Mount Pisgah Trail. Hike to the summit. Return the same way.

Glen, Krumm, and I hiked up Mt. Pisgah. We had never done the hike from the Pisgah Inn, nor had we taken the trail across the street from the Pisgah Inn. I'm a little confused about trail names. Gaia calls the trail across the street from the Pisgah Inn the Mt. Pisgah Trail. On the Pisgah Map Company's map, it lists the Mt. Pisgah Trail as moderate and 1.3 miles. I think it's only referring to the climb up the mountain, not to the trail that runs parallel to the parkway that we started out on. We found the climb up the mountain strenuous, not moderate. Especially since I haven't been doing hikes with climbs for months. A beautiful day with lots of hikers and dogs on the trail. 

Pink Beds Loop, Pisgah

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/13/2025	5.4 miles	2 hours 26 minutes	196'	2.2 mph	272.7 miles

Parking: 

• Pink Beds, US 276

Map:

• Gai GPS app

Directions:

• Misc trails

Glen, Krumm, and I headed to Pisgah today after a sketching workshop. What gorgeous, cool weather we had. This is a pretty level hike, so ideal for me right now. This is a great hike to see mushrooms, and we had a lot of fall blooms as well. There are tiny bits of fall foliage starting. Krumm was happy to get his feet wet in the streams. I did have a flying fall on this hike. We finished close to sunset, so we stopped and checked out some views along the parkway.

On the way home stopping at an overlook

Then stopping on the side of the parkway looking out at the sunset.

North Carolina Arboretum and Lake Powhatan

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/11/2025	5.4 miles	4 hours 36 minutes	226'	1.9 mph	267.3 miles

Parking: 

• The North Carolina Arboretum

Map:

• Gai GPS app

Directions:

• Misc trails

Taking my family out to the arboretum, continuing on to Lake Powhatan and back. We had some excitement, as we came across a copperhead on the trail. Luckily it moved off the trail for us. 

Fall blooming anemone

Krumm and his friends

Lake Powhatan

Turtlehead

Juvenile broad tailed hawk

Hanging out at Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack.
Glen and I got dinner from Chipotle beforehand.

Warren Wilson College trails, Swannanoa

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/10/2025	3.5 miles	2 hours 5 minutes	173'	2.2 mph	261.9 miles

Parking: 

• Riceville Road, across the street from Berea Baptist Church

Map:

• Gai GPS app

Directions:

• Keep taking right turns. Never cross a road, and when you get to a bridge, turn around.

Taking my family out for our local hike. The creek was muddy today.

Frying Pan Tower

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/8/2025	1.5 miles	1 hour	252'	2 mph	258.4 miles

Parking: 

• Blue Ridge Parkway

Map:

• Pisgah Map Co. Pisgah Ranger District

Directions:

• Follow the gravel road uphill to the tower. Return the same way.

Easy hike up to the fire tower with my family for big views We even saw two dogs that climbed to the top.