I needed a week to recover from this one. The Grandfather Trail along the summit ridge at Grandfather Mountain State Park is a crazy obstacle course of ladders, cable routes and 50-ton boulders. Strong hikers can do all the trails…

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I’ve proved beyond doubt that Grandfather Mountain is no place to hike if you’re in a hurry. I’ve established a firm 1.1 mph pace after five outings totaling about 25 miles. Sign for the Profile Trail, seen heading north on…

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This is a great combo if you’re into contrasts: start out with a sane, scenic hike to the Mile High Swinging Bridge, then move on to the utterly crazy ridge route to Macc Peak. There’s a certain sanity to the…

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I knew this climb would not be a picnic — three miles of trail and 2,000 feet of ascent separate Calloway Peak from the Boone Fork trailhead at mile 299.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Don’t let the short distance…

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I want you to know, all 14 of my devoted readers, that at the first sign of spring I darted west to the Real Mountains to do some Real Hiking — no more of this flat-land fakery for me, by…

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Somebody has gotten it into their heads there ought to be winter in the Southern Appalachians. I was not consulted. I was thinking I should have had my head examined when I showed up in autumn apparel at a deep-valley…

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