A Day At Stone Mountain State Park

"The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places." -- Habakkuk 3:19

This verse meant so much to me on a recent trip to Stone Mountain, NC. It was a gorgeous day for a short trip to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and I took full advantage of it. Stone Mountain State Park is about 1 and 1/2 hours from Greensboro for most people (2 hours on the scenic route I took). I parked at the Upper Trailhead Parking Area. It was a pleasant short walk to the falls. There were several sets of stairs, but they were well-built and in good repair. Just a note of clarification: to get to the falls from this parking area, you go down all these stairs, which means that when you return to your car via this same trail, you go up all these stairs. I chose to go to the falls first, but next time I will probably choose the Loop Trail which will have me seeing the falls at the end. This still means going up all the stairs at the end of the hike, but it is manageable. I just know that there are things I didn't see because I did not do the entire loop.

I hiked to the falls, past the falls, and then to Hutchinson Homestead. This is a group of older buildings which have been restored. It included a cabin, a barn, an outhouse, and several other buildings which were quite interesting and were blessed with the above view. Can you imagine waking up to that outside your window every morning? How awesome!!

After the homestead, I turned around and made the hike back the way I had come. I then moved my car to the Lower Trailhead Parking Area and attempted to make the hike to the mountain's summit. I made it almost all the way. Those of you who know me well know how difficult it is for me to make that statement. I don't almost do anything. Maybe it is time to share that I got new glasses two days before this trip. My prescription has changed some, but I didn't realize how much until I began the walk to the falls. Those stairs that I mentioned were a real challenge since to me each step appeared to slant off to the side. I had to grip the handrails to keep from missing stairs as I made my way down. In areas where there were no stairs but just rocky trail, I had to be extra careful. My lack of depth perception made each step treacherous. Truth be told, I looked like I had had a few too many drinks of alcoholic beverages and then decided to hit the trails. Anyway, as I made my way up the summit trail I got a little worried the rockier it got. I decided that wisdom should prevail over stubbornness, so I didn't actually get all the way to the top. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire time on the trails though, and the pictures below will attest to the beauty that I beheld.

Here is a baby bird that apparently fell from its nest. Lots of people tried to help it but no one was sure the best way to help. We ended up leaving it there in hopes it would fly to safety.

Important notes:
*Both parking areas had restrooms which were clean and well-equipped.
*There was a large poster-sized park map behind glass at each parking area and also free park maps for the taking.
*There were people of all ages on the trails. Also lots of dogs on leashes, so feel free to bring your pet.
*There were a few places to eat not terribly far from the park. I chose to drive to Wilkesboro which is about 30 minutes away. I found a pizza restaurant with a buffet.

Links:
Stone Mountain State Park

Village Inn Pizza Parlor

Hanging Rock -- A Day Trip For the Soul

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and winds long to play with your hair.”  -- Kahli Gibran

After weeks and weeks of quarantine and then a few more weeks of readjusting to life outside of my house, I finally had the chance to get away. It was just a short day trip, only about an hour outside of Greensboro, but it was a trip soothing to my soul. It refreshed me, encouraged me, gave me joy. Ironically, I shared the day with Joy! 

My friend Joy and I were longing for an adventure, even a small one. She suggested a trip to Danbury, NC to visit an art show presented by the Stokes County Arts Council at The Apple Gallery. I jumped at the chance, even more so when I remembered that Danbury is home to Hanging Rock. I took my nephew and his friend there years ago and recalled enjoying the area.

We left about 9:30 and took a meandering route through Oak Ridge, Stokesdale, and Walnut Cove. It was a pleasant drive in which we enjoyed farmland, interesting yard art, and gorgeous plant-life. We decided to start our adventure on the outer edge of Hanging Rock State Park, choosing a short (.2 mile) trail that leads up to Tory's Den and Waterfalls. It was a great start! The trail was easy to find, with a parking area on Charlie Young Road. A map at the parking area gave us an overview of the whole park and specifically the trail to the den and falls. The trail itself was well marked and extremely safe. We came to the falls first, meeting a couple of young girls who were out enjoying their own adventure. Moving on down the trail, just a little farther, we came to Tory's Den. I was interested to read on a historical background sign at the parking area that the cave was a refuge to 100 Tories for a short time during the American Revolution. This fact became most amazing when we saw the size of the cave. I have no idea how 100 people squeezed into it!

After returning to the car, we decided to drive to the main part of the park and hike the trail to Hanging Rock itself. The visitor center parking lot and entrance to Hanging Rock trail were not hard to find. On the way we made a stop at Hanging Rock General Store. It was a fun place with lots of local arts and crafts, t-shirts, food/drink, and a public restroom. The girls we met at the falls were right behind us and we visited a little more with them while we enjoyed the store. We promised to look for each other near Hanging Rock. 

I remembered this trail being a little more difficult than the Tory's Den Trail. My memory was not wrong. This trail is 1.5 miles one way. It starts as a paved trail, becoming a gravel trail, and eventually a stairway of stones. At some points it has a pretty steep incline but is not really dangerous. I spooked for a little bit when someone ahead told us that part of the trail was kind of slick, but we just altered our path to where there were more rocks and less dirt and we were fine. The view at the top makes the climb totally worth it, as you can see from my pictures. There are lots of rock formations jutting out from the mountainside; we chose to stick to the more protected rocks. We did see people who climbed/slid/struggled further out, but we were not even tempted. The sign at the beginning of the trail was enough to deter me if I had had the slightest inclination to crawl out to the edge which I did not! We enjoyed the view from several different angles, ran into our new friends from Tory's Falls again, and began our return hike. Going down was much easier than going up. We walked only a short way before we felt a few raindrops. I prayed, asking God to hold of the rain till we had made it through the rock area and onto the slightly flatter gravel area. I don't know why I didn't ask Him to hold the rain off until we made it to the car!! Almost as soon as our feet left the rocks and touched gravel the bottom fell out. We were completely drenched in no time and walked about 1/2 a mile in pouring down rain. When we arrived at the car it stopped. I was so grateful to God for His protection and a little not-amused at His sense of humor. Joy had a roll of paper towels in the car which helped some.

Our next stop was lunch. We ate at the River Rock Cafe, which I highly recommend. Their menu is large, sandwiches, flatbreads, pizzas, and the prices are reasonable. One thing to keep in mind is that they close at 2:00 except on Fridays and Saturdays. We got there just in time. We ate outside do to our drenched state and the air conditioner inside. We both got Reubens and were very satisfied. It was also nice to sit out in the sun and dry out some.

Next we were on to the art gallery. The gallery is a very nice place in downtown Danbury. There is ample parking in the back, entrance is free, and there's many good pieces of art to mull over. For the month of June they are showing the work of Dennis Byrd, the artist who Joy is familiar with, but the work of several other artists was on view as well. There was also a gallery store with some artwork, crafts, jewelry, etc. for sale.

After the gallery, we began our journey home, still enjoying our time and the new views outside our windows. On the morning trip towards Danbury we enjoyed passing through the small town of Walnut Cove and were happy to be passing through it again on the way home. We became even happier when we saw the Duck Donut Truck. How can you NOT stop at a donut truck after hiking 3 1/2 miles (33 floors)? My favorite is the Beachball. Sorry no picture; I didn't have them long enough to get a picture. 

Greensboro was back in sight soon enough. We were tired but refreshed. I personally enjoyed every minute of the day (even the rain) and was so grateful to have a friend who also loves the journey as much as I do. I highly recommend a day trip to Hanging Rock. We saw kids of all ages on the trails, and even a lady on crutches, though I am not at all sure how she managed slippery wet rocks on her way down. Danbury is also the place to go when you want to tube down the Dan River... but that's a journey for another day.

Links:

Stokes County Arts Council

River Rock Cafe

Hanging Rock State Park

Hanging Rock General Store