Mount Mitchell, Part 2

When we woke up on Memorial Day in our tent, it was pouring down rain. So we decided to drive down to the restaurant to eat breakfast to see if the rain would slow down for us to break down our tent and go for a hike.When we got finished with breakfast, thankfully the rain had slowed down enough for us to feel comfortable with breaking down our tent. (Don't worry, we still set everything back up when we got back to dry out a little more.)

Right about the time we finished getting our stuff packed up and back in the car, the sky opened back up. I wasn't about to let a little (or a lot!) of rain stop me from reaching the top, so instead of doing the strenuous 10 mile hike we had planned, we drove up a little more and only hiked 2 miles. (In the rain. In the wind. In the high altitude. Which holds little air.)

It took us longer than usual, since the path was very rocky, and since it had rained a lot the night before and was currently raining, it was muddy, slosh-y, and slick.But oh, still so, so beautiful. :) God's creation is so stunning...how can anyone deny that someone super powerful made the Earth? And on purpose? And if His creation is this beautiful, majestic, and life-sustaining, how much more is He?

With all that, we still made it to the top!(Please ignore the bad pic of the both of us - this is for proof purposes only. Hey, it was rainy and cold, remember!)

At the very top of the summit, there was a map of the surrounding areas, labeling the other mountains, valleys, and cities in your view. I thought this was a fantastic idea. If I ever own a mountain ( Yes, please! :) ), there will need be something like this: In the middle of the summit there was a map of NC, telling the location of Mt. Mitchell:With a little bit of info about it being the highest point in the Apps/NC:At the summit we also got to see the grave of the remainder of the founder of Mt. Mitchell (Elisha Mitchell, a professor at UNC). He fell to his death at Mitchell Falls (aptly named, but it's really named that because it's a 25-foot waterfall) in 1857 after returning to Mt. Mitchell to verify his findings (he was trying to gauge how high Mt. Mitchell is).
The pic below was taken on the walkway on the way down from the summit. I hope to wake up to this everyday someday and sit on my front porch in a rocking chair with a cup of coffee just takin' in the view, shootin' the breeze with Brent and possibly watching some little ones run around. Okay fine, I would settle for having this in my backyard...either one. Glad I don't ask for much. :)