Craggy Gardens

One day we took a drive up to the Craggy Gardens. Craggy Gardens is located along the Parkway and up until recently the Parkway was closed just south of the Gardens due to a landslide so we haven't been able to get there. It took a year and a half to repair it. Craggy Gardens is part of the Craggy Mountain range and has been a popular spot to visit since the 1800s. It is a heath bald, which means the plant material is all in the heath family (rhododendron, azaleas, leucothoe, blueberries, etc.) and there are no big trees which make it look bald from a distance compared to other mountains. The time to visit the Gardens is in mid-June when the rhododendron are blooming. There are a few trails so we decided to hike the Pinnacle Trail which is at just under 6,000 feet at the summit.

The first part of the trail is a rhododendron tunnel. Then through a forest full of wildflowers and interesting trees. A lot of the larger trees have been blown over from the high winds and have grown sideways.

The Craggys are home to some rare native plants that only grow at that elevation and at that location.

Even though the rhododendron we not yet at their peak it was still a beautiful hike. Once we reached the summit there were 360 degree views.

We barely made it home before a huge thunderstorm hit. Hail was coming down like ice cubes. Robert had gone over to another part of the development and the road was covered with ice like it was winter. This is some of the hail about an hour after the storm ended.