“Mount Pisgah is named after the biblical mountain from which Moses first saw the promised land. When the Cherokee were the land’s only inhabitants, the mountain was named Elseetoss and what we now know as the Pisgah Ridge was named Warwasseeta. The now official name carried on to the National Forest which now surrounds the mountain and also to a ranger district within the national forest.”

I’ve hiked to the top of Mount Pisgah, and it was one of the most disappointing hiking experiences ever. It’s a rocky strenuous trail and after finally getting to the top instead of brilliant vistas you’re greeted by a graffiti peppered platform built by delinquents in the 80s and a buzzing WLOS communication tower. Yay for the outdoors!

However, I do rather enjoy the Mount Pisgah campground nearby. Ben wasn’t feeling up to par and didn’t really want to “rough it” by hiking in to a spot so we decided to car camp instead. We camped there several years ago and liked it. However, this time was a bit disappointing. All of the tent spots were taken. (What kind of crazy person camps at the highest campground on the parkway in October?!)

Thus, we had to camp in a RV spot where we were told we HAD to put our tent on the asphalt. Ugh. It was far away from the campfire and just kind of crummy. The heated bathroom made up for a TEENSY bit, but both Ben & I preferred Graveyard Fields a lot more.

On to pictures:

This little fella (or lady) chilled at our campsite for a while. It was the only (seemingly) friendly owl I have ever seen. He was small and flitted from branch to branch noiselessly. I absolutely loved him.

Where the owl had been the night before.

The sun coming up in the morning.

Water pumps are handy but I still missed the river we camped by last weekend.

It was still pretty though.

The steps up to our tent.

We couldn’t even stake the tent down. And camping on the asphalt was just terrible. Thankfully, I had two Big Agnes insulated air mattresses for us. (Ben refused to have anything of the sort but I had gotten him one JUST IN CASE. As soon as I learned we were going to be on the pavement I was so glad I did.)

Ben with the fire. We didn’t have a fire ring but this did set up have a built in grill that lowered over the fire. That was so handy for cooking!

Tobi is a good little guard dog!

I gave in and bought a new coat that would be suitable for camping (although I’m not a fan of white – it was on sale. Let the wildlife judge me for wearing white after Labor Day!) Of course, it ended up being warmer this weekend. It was in the 40s whereas at Graveyard Fields it was in the low 30s. I wasn’t complaining though, and I do love my new coat.

Showin’ us his tail feathers!

My favorite place on the Blue Ridge Parkway is Graveyard Fields.

“A natural explanation for this valley’s interesting name originates from a time when a windstorm blew down hundreds of the spruce and fir trees that originally grew here. The upturned roots resembled gravestones in a graveyard. But there is a man-made explanation as well. During the early 1900′s, when the mountains were being extensively logged, all that remained in this valley were the stumps of cut trees. Another story of the valley’s name tells of how mosses eventually grew all over the stumps, resembling an overgrown graveyard. However, later during the logging era, catastrophic fires swept through the area, destroying anything resembling a graveyard and heating the soil enough to sterilize it. The once dense spruce-fir forest was forever changed from that point forward.

Today, the unusually flat valley is like an upside-down “bald”, with fields of high-elevation grasses and shrubs surrounding the tributaries of the Yellowstone Prong. True bald mountaintops, such as Black Balsam Mountain, surround the valley… Rare mountain bogs lie along springs and seeps in the valley. Although the trees and shrubs are beginning to grow back in places, periodic smaller fires have swept the area, helping keep the alpine meadow-like appearance in places.” — from HikeWNCInfo.com

For my birthday, I wanted to camp here. I have camped here before, and loved it. However, that was during the summertime. This time was a challenge because not only would it be cold (COLD!), but also because we would need appropriate gear which can get pretty costly. Shopping for tents and sleeping bag was the first time I heard the phrase, “Buy once, Cry once.” It’s painful but when I think about the last birthday camping trip we took to Mount Pisgah where our tent broke in the middle of the night… it’s a motto I can get behind.

It was a fantastic trip. I returned happier than I have been in.. well, maybe years. It was just beautiful, and everything I hoped it would be. It was freezing cold but our gear kept us warm. It was well worth it, and I’m glad Ben loves me enough to go on trips like these – even if it involves using the bathroom in the woods.

Now, onto pictures. (You can click on each photo for a larger version of it.)

This is an aerial view of the valley we camped in. By aerial I mean it’s a view from the parkway. CLOSE ENOUGH.

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This was posted on the trail near the beginning. We didn’t see it until the hike out because it was dark by the time we even got to the trailhead. This is unfortunate since near the top of the list of what not to do is to hike at night. Whoopsie!

One of Ben’s co-workers thought he was joking around when he said he was camping at Graveyard Fields. They thought he had made up the name – so here’s the proof. We camped along the upper falls trail.

Ben tending to the morning fire with Tobi as our ever vigilant guard dog. (We heard coyotes in the night that sounded pretty close.)

Flannery stayed at home because she hates the cold and outdoors. However, Tobi is a pretty hardy dog and seemed to love it. We had to keep him leashed up at all times because so many hikers had their dogs unleashed on the trail.

We woke up to everything covered in frost – brrrrr!

The sun slowly but surely melting the frost away.

This is our tent once I took the rainfly off. Frost got onto the tent even with the fly on it. It was so cold out!

but pretty!

sooo pretty. The last two pictures were taken from our campsite. It was nice to wake up to such a great view.

I thought setting up the campsite would be a nightmare to do in the dark, but it actually went very smoothly. This was our first time using our tent, and I loved it. I never thought that I could adore a tent this much – but I’ve never had one with vestibules. We used the back vestibule to keep all our gear in. Since the tent has two doors I could get to all of our gear in the morning without getting out of the tent. Perfect! Plus, it was so well ventilated and stayed pretty warm inside.

Ben on our hike out.

This is our packs side by side. Poor Ben! I’m a lightweight! But there’s really no way I could carry as much as he does. By the way, I let Ben pick out the color of my pack. I don’t know about this color but it’s pretty easy to spot me… from California.

Ben & Tobi trekking along.

Still trekkin’

I took this picture of Ben while standing on a bridge. Our campsite was close enough to water that we could get some in order to make sure that our fire was DEFINITELY put out.

Not the campsite we used (not enough cover!), but pretty.

Another campsite that wasn’t what we wanted but was still nice.

It was a good trip. Such a good trip that I think we shall be doing it again in a week or so. Different spot but the same general area. We’re trying to get enough gear so that we’re able to go cold weather camping in comfort.

Even the cars doll up for the Indie Craft Parade:

There was a little line this year, but it was nothing compared to last year’s. Although last year’s might have seemed like a longer wait because it was raining at the time. This year we had blue skies ahead!

Asheville artist Marisol Spoon was there. This is one of her paintings rather than a painting of her. I KNOW! I was disappointed too. Her paintings and lockets are awfully cute though.

I bought this adorable birdhouse made by Mike Merritt. The metal woven pieces on the side and the roof are made from old barn roofs.

The other item I bought was from Owlette Collective. It’s a dinosaur bonnet. Similar to this one (which I snagged from their facebook page.) It’s pretty stinkin’ cute! (I did not get the tail.)

So for Ben’s birthday we went shooting with friends out at a farm in Fountain Inn. It was lovely.

Evidently, they do events there. (They had a picturesque gazebo and large building for gatherings elsewhere on the property.) To think – we could have gotten married there and gone shooting for the reception. Alas!

Here’s Ben waiting while everything was set up. Bales of hay were brought out and then the target was placed in front of it.

This was the first time he’s been able to shoot his Mac since it’s come back from repairs. No jams – yay!
Note: That’s not a suppressor on his gun. It’s just a barrel extender. It does make the mac look quite fierce though.

The blonde fellow there brought a new tactical shotgun he just bought.

So, of course, that meant there would be skeet shooting.

And…that’s a picture of my boss shooting there. He’s an incredibly good shot. As in – I think I better become a much harder worker – good shot. Yeep!

My co-worker asked if I wanted these two oval frames. The paint was chipped in places, and they had no backing or glass.

I sanded them down, and repainted them red. Then, I covered two layers of cork board and foam board with fabric and put it in the middle to turn them into fancy schmancy message boards.

And here they are on my wall!

The flash makes the paint look slightly different in some of the pictures, but it’s just a plain semi-gloss red. I’m a fan of pretty functional things, and while these are not an amazing makeover I like them. And at least they aren’t robin egg blue.