Summer Travels- Stone Mountain in NC

Several year ago we hiked at Stone mountain State Park in NC for the first time. It was a really beautiful hike, with a gorgeous waterfall and amazing views at the top. We enjoyed it so much that we we decided to go back this summer and visit it again.

The trail is beautiful, with lots of foliage, wildflowers and moss.  When we came a few years ago, we didn't even realize there was a waterfall until we came to it. We first hiked up to Stone mountain and then on our way down we followed the trail that took us to the waterfall. It was a pretty strenuous hike, and i remember being completely exhausted climbing down all the stairs.

When we began our hike we ended up follow the trail that went straight to the waterfall first. There is an observation deck, and warning sign posted everywhere.  This is an incredibly intense fast moving waterfall that washes over shear rock.  Anyone who has ever hopped the fence to get a closer look has to completely insane. 

It's an amazing and powerful waterfall.  It goes straight over the side of the rock, and guarantees a quick and painful death to anyone crazy enough to ignore the signs. 

The trail takes you down to the base of the fall, and you can sit on the rocks and even dip your feet in the water here.  The energy is absolutely incredible. There is just something so healing about the sound of moving water. As if it moves right through you and washes away any negative energy that has been clinging.  It leaves us feeling energized and recharged.  We continued along the path which took us along the river and through a very magical forest. The kids ran ahead of us and counted toad stools and pointed out all the fairy house.

The trail brings you to the Hutchinson homestead. The Hutchinson Homestead is complete with a log cabin, barn, blacksmith shop, corncrib, meathouse and original furnishings. They have lots of signs with information about the different buildings and history.

The Hutchinson homestead is at the base of Stone mountain. Stone mountain is a 600 foot granite dome. This is the view from the homestead. Pretty amazing.

As soon as we left the homestead we began our trek up the mountain. We quickly realized that we should have taken the trail to the top of the mountain first and then walked down to see the waterfall. 590 steps going up is a lot harder than going down.

 i like to think i'm in pretty good shape, but i had to stop several times to catch my breath.   It was a really difficult hike.

By the time we got to the top, we were all feeling like this. The view was spectacular, but we were exhausted.  We only had a few minutes to enjoy the view before we started to hear thunder, and saw a storm brewing on the horizon. 

We enjoyed the view for a few minutes and snapped some pictures, then continued on.  There are several places to stop and enjoy the unusual rock landscape and spectacular view. 

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We had a great time at Stone Mountain and were really glad that we were able to return. Although we were completely wore out, we had a fantastic time.
 We've really tried to do something fun every weekend this summer. Kenan works long hours 6 days a week, but has taken off one day each week for a family day trip. We were also hoping to take a weekend trip to the beach or a trip to Atlanta to check out the new Aquarium, but we ran out of weekends.  The was summer way too short this year, and my kids have already returned back to school this week.

As much as i dread back to school, i am enjoying having a bit of personal time again. i really haven't touched any of my crafts/projects since we moved to the RV so i am hoping i'll start feeling inspired again soon.