Love of my Life ......

After all the driving and hiking yesterday we decided to stay close to the condo today.

After lunch we drove to Lake Lure and stopped at the Flowering Garden again. I was hoping for another hummingbird shot, but I only saw one. And he was way up in a tree ~ definitely out of range.

We then went into Chimney Rock, which, as I have mentioned before, is right up the road. If you visit this area you definitely want to get to Chimney Rock and if you do, do it during the week. The village of Chimney Rock has many wonderful shops ~ tourist traps really. Also in Chimney Rock is the entrance to Chimney Rock State Park. Hmmm, I wonder how they came up with that name?!?

Chimney Rock State Park is home to the 535-million-year-old monolith for which the park is named. There are hiking trails to the “chimney” itself, as well as throughout the park. In years past we have hike ALL the trails ~ some very difficult.

• The popular Hickory Nut Falls trail takes you out to the bottom of our 404-foot waterfall, the second highest of its kind east of the Mississippi River and featured in the movie The Last of the Mohicans.
• The Four Seasons trail heads out of the Meadows area through deciduous forest and connects with the Hickory Nut Falls trail.
• Designed for kids and kids-at-heart, the Great Woodland Adventure features 12 Discovery Stations with locally-made sculptures that entertain and educate guests on some of the animals that call Chimney Rock home.
• The Skyline trail takes you to the highest peak in the Park, Exclamation Point at 2,480 ft. The Opera Box and Devil’s Head are on this trial.

We did not go the State Park this trip, but while in the village we did walk the new “River Walk” where I took this picture of Richard. He's enjoying the beautiful clean water. There! I got the October word challenge in!