Our June, 2006 Travelogue

Our June Pics are Here.

It's June in the forest. June has been a great month - we're still volunteering at the Cradle of Forestry, and loving it. The cradle has been busy with groups and many more people are vacationing in the area.

During June we did a lot of hiking. We did some smaller walks and some real challenging ones. Our longest hike was a 7 mile trek from the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway back down to the Cradle of Forestry with a group of fellow volunteers. The good news is it was all down hill. This is an annual 'volunteer tradition'. We followed a nice path with great wild flowers, but not many good views because it is mostly through wooded areas.

Our toughest hike was up a lava dome called Looking Glass Rock. This provided a wonderful view as a reward. It was 6.2 miles round trip and included a 1600 foot vertical climb going up. The trail leads from the southern side of the hill and the rock face at the top faces the Parkway. (See pics)

Our friends Gaye and Joe hosted a short hike for our group to Schoolhouse Falls in the Lake Toxaway area where they live. An easy hike to a nice falls. After the hike we had a cookout at their campground - which is not currently in operation - but it has a great picnic pavilion and was terrific fun.

There were some great events at the Cradle of Forestry during the month. The most fun for us was "Bug Day". Our grandsons Justin and William were here for the event, including the firefly hunt, and stayed overnight with us in the motor home - a fun time.

We've been keeping up with learning about local wild flowers and birds. Randy has camera envy now and may look at a new one in the fall.