School has been keeping me busy, but last weekend I still made time to adventure around one of my favorite spots in NC…Linville Gorge. It has been a very rainy week around NC, but fortunately the mountains started to clear up as we arrived. I went with my friends Brad and Nic, fortunately both good hikers. Our Friday started out with a good 1.5 mile hike up to the top of Eagles nest trail, where we enjoyed an amazing view of the gorge. During this, we noticed clouds starting to head our direction, which eventually turned to storms. Having rarely seen storms from this high up, it was very interesting to be up with the cloud bases, a perceptive that I enjoyed greatly. Here is the first approaching storm that we saw:
After enjoying this for about half an hour, the sky stared to darken and the air cooled…and we knew what was next. Hearing thunder getting closer, we knew we were prime lightning targets and decided we should take some cover. Before doing so, we watched the storm come around our mountain, slowly wrapping itself toward us. Here is a picture of brad looking over the Gorge as the storm arrives
Fortunately, we were able to find cover under an overhanging rock, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the heavy wind and thunder that followed. As soon as it passed, we started our slippery hike down, but the refreshing rain and great sights kept our spirits high.
Exploring NC 