This week's day trip took the entire family hiking at the
Pink Beds in
Pisgah National Forest.
The day started seeming like a straight forward little hike along the Pink Beds Loop Trail. Before it was over, we would learn two lessons:
- not all who wander are lost - but sometimes they are
- always always always bring the map with you
You see... the Pink Beds Loop trail is simple enough. You can walk the entire loop or you can cut across the middle on Barnett Branch Trail to make it a bit shorter. That was our plan. And with the trails marked and knowing our plan we didn't think we needed to bring the book of maps with us.
However... when you somehow start the trail where you thought you would be finishing the trail - this can cause you to turn onto Barnett Branch where it actually splits away from Pink Beds Loop. Which in turn leads you up tothe Black Mountain Trail. NOT where we expected to go. And a more difficult hike.
Fortunately the Black Mountain trail brings you to the Club Gap trail down to the Cradle of Forestry which is adjacent to the Pink Beds. So it all turned out good.
And we got to see some sights we would have otherwise never have come across.
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| A sea of ferns |
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| Lots of little creatures. Like frogs... |
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| and snails! |
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| Pausing for lunch |
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| More cool, twisty trees |
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| Beautiful views of the moutains |
