Andy and Autumn were in from Montana and wanted my opinion on where they could do some car camping with Forest and Mary Ann. They wanted a spot near a mountain creek to cool down in. He was thinking about Upper Creek or Gragg Prong but I suggested down FS 472 by the South Toe since it is high elevation which equals cool temps this time of the year and some great hiking close by. They got a sweet site right at the bottom of Bald Knob Ridge Trail. Starla and I headed out to meet and hang with them on Saturday morning. I brought my acoustic and picked a little bit while we hung out for a while and swapped stories. After about an hour or so of note bending / rhythm and blues and tales of high water escapades, we headed over to the MT Mitchell parking lot and hiked out to Mt Craig then Star and I headed up to the Mt Mitchell peak. The last I saw Andy, he and Autumn were heading back to Forest's campsite to chill in the creek for awhile before heading back to his moms. Good to see all and glad they took my suggestion and were "Happy Campers".
Good times were had by all!
Just as we left the parking lot and embarked on the trail who do we spot doing the same thing but Dan "The Hiking Man" Narten! And he was on a date with a lovely lady who I had the pleasure to meet. Great minds think alike. It was as close to as perfect a day as I can imagine to be up on the Black Mountain Crest!
