Chimney Rock Park

Chimney Rock has a lot of stairs. When we arrived, those stairs were wet. One of the first places we stopped was a narrow passage called the Needles Eye. About half way up a twisty set of stairs you are greeted by this narrowing stairway to the top. Between each step you can see the ground FAR below. Randy and I got a way up while Cari waited with Meredith. Then I decided I was nervous. Cari took my place with Randy and went to the top. Meredith and I sat on a step and waited. . . in the rain. I was nervous mostly because I wasn't sure if I would have to come down those steps. They were steep and wet, and I kept thinking it would be a long way to fall. The steps lead out to a trail at the top that Randy and Cari took around to meet us on a different set of stairs.

There was an overlook area at the top of that trail. Our view from up there was minimal because of all the rain and clouds. I don't think the children realized they were on the side of a mountain. They were bouncing around and climbing on rocks. I was freaking out. "Just sit down.", I reminded them.

Back down on the ground we walked into a tunnel carved into the mountain. The tunnel leads to an elevator. This elevator shaft was cut into the mountain. It runs about 250 ft up to Chimney Rock. At the top you again take a staircase where you can stand on the rock they named the park for.

There is also an outstanding waterfall in the park. Hickory Nut falls requires about a fourty minute hike in the woods. We managed this without much resistance from the children and the rain finally stopped. The waterfall was really magnificent. We took lots of pictures. A man offered to take our picture with my camera if I would take one of him and his wife. I actually handed over my camera to this guy.For some reason the guy thought it would be better to get my camera bag in the picture instead of more of the falls. Thanks!

After taking pictures for a few other people, we started heading back out. The end (which is also the beginning) of the trail is made up of stairs. 164 steps to be exact. That's a lot of steps. Somehow counting them took our minds off of the pain our legs were in.

The clouds had started to clear away at this point so we took the elevator back up. This time, our view was much better. Below you could see the small town, the river, the dam, the lake created by the dam, and my car.There are many more trails and many more steps at Chimney Rock. Our family had walked enough steps this day, so we took the elevator down and got in the car. We'll definitely return there some day. Next time I'm going to trust the weather channel a little more.
This is a picture from down on the road looking up at Hickory Nut Falls. We were standing near where the water goes behind the trees.