Quality 2-wheel time with the wifey in the Highlands!

Well is seems lately I have been riding black beauty (my BMW) to work but I haven't had time for any nice trips. So I decided to do a little Flash Back Friday to summarize a previous ride to the NC mountains.

Highlands, N.C, June 12-14, 2012               325 miles

Tuesday night- Diane and I rode the BMW 1100RT up to the Highlands. We took the direct route up 985 and then 246/106 into the highlands. It took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get there. Smooth ride but it got pretty chilly and misty on 106. We were quite cold by the time we got to Mountain High Lodge. We tried to go to Ruka’s Table for dinner (our favorite spot) but they were not open 7 days a week yet. Still off season evidently. So we ended up eating at Fresser’s Eatery. It was fine food but didn’t care for the atmosphere – just a bunch of table/chairs in the middle of a room. I had fried oysters and a Caesar salad. Headed to the corner gas station/shop and bought a bottle of wine.

Wednesday- Our first hike was to Picklesimer/Rock House Falls. We got this and some other off the beaten path hikes to falls from Michael’s friend Ed. The dirt/gravel road seemed to have been recently redone (i.e. lose dirt added). This made it a bit stressful but I just stayed in 1^st gear most the way and we made it. I think the last part was more than 0.3 miles but not sure. The hiking part wasn’t too exciting. Walked along a path (almost road) and crossed a field of tall grass into the woods and then it was a very short hike to the falls. But the falls were very nice and you could go up behind them. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any good photos – Diane assures me that it is because our camera sucks we need a new $800 model. L

Took off the riding gear and ready to hike!

Then we went to lunch at the Sports Page. We love this place. We should probably try some new places but Diane loves their grilled cheese and potato salad and I lover their Driver (Italian) sandwich which is loaded with meat and leaves you stuffed. Perfect for in between hikes!

Next we did a hike from a book we bought at the visitor center: the Highlands-Cashiers Outdoors Companion by Brain A. Boyd. It was called the Overflow Creek Loop and included parts of Batram, Hurrah Ridge, and West Fork Trails. It was a 3.5 mile loop and labeled strenuous. It was a very nice hike and is only strenuous because it us a lot of uphill (some semi-steep) on the way back up. You start this hike from the Osage Mountain overlook on Hwy. 106 so it is easy to get to. The hike back up is next to a stream most of the way which I love.

 

 

We had dinner at Ruka’s Table (thank God it was open Wednesday) and had great meals. Evidently a new Atlanta chef who won “Chopped” is taking over. We had Pork Belly to start us off. I got trout with beets and Diane got chicken with Farro. We also both got desserts which were great. Then we went back to the room and knocked off a bottle of red wine.

 

The next morning we had coffee at Bucks and then headed to “Granite City” also mentioned in the book we bought. This place was awesome and we should definitely take the kids and flashlights. There are tons of cool boulders, caves, and crevices to explore along the southeastern side of Blackrock Mountain. It also involves a dirt road but only a very short section and we didn’t have any problems. It just has a small pull off to park and isn’t marked so you have to know where you are going. Just walk straight up the trail (just looks like rain run off ditch at first) and it is just a few hundred yards but does involve some mild climbing up some roots of a steep section. On the way back Horse Cove Road was closed (at least 30 more minutes) so we were detoured to Rich Gap, which was another dirt road, to get us back to 28 and back up to Highlands. It was not relaxing but we made it event free.

Me wondering through "rock city"

Next we stopped at the Highlands Biological Station and the Highlands Nature Center. They had critters (snakes, turtles, salamanders…) and exhibits to look at in addition to some really pretty trails and botanical gardens. We didn’t’ stay long but definitely worth returning with the kids. You could actually walk to this place from downtown.

 

A pre-hike selfie

 

Then we had lunch (guess where) and headed home. We stopped at Peak Experience (antiques and handmade stuff) on 106 but didn’t buy anything. We were hoping to hike Holcomb Creek Falls (from the book) in GA but we didn’t have time. We took a different route home and took 76 in Clayton over to 197 which is a fun road and passes some potters. We stopped at one but didn’t buy anything. We made it home just before 4 pm in time for me to help set up for the swim meet.