FRIDAY
Well this trip Started out Friday morning, Andrea and I finished some last minute packing and loaded up the jeep. We met up with Larry and Burgundy in the Cherokee at Zaxbys in Newberry to grab lunch. After lunch we made a quick gas stop and were on the road. We took I26 in hopes of getting up to the campsite in time to setup and go explore a few things I had been meaning to check out. We stopped at the NC welcome center to check and see if Jimbo was on his way but he was still doing some parts running so we motored on. We hopped off I40 at exit 15 and rode a short scenic trail with some mud and a few washouts.
The leaves in the area were awesome and we knew at that point it was going to be a great weekend for the fall colors. We made our way down the trail and came out on I40 where we took a short ride up to Exit 7 to head to the camp spot.
After a short ride down to the river where we were camping we setup and decided to head to a lookout I had read about called “Buzzards Roost”. The four of us headed up the forest service road and with the help of the gps and some paint on a tree found a small trail leading down from the shoulder of the road.
Thankfully there was a rope on this hill because if not I can see somebody falling to their death if it was wet!! We took some pictures and pretended like we weren’t scared of falling to our death from the huge cliff overhang with rocks below. Our dog Roxie couldn’t be convinced that it was safe, as seen in the photos.
After that we headed back to camp and got the fire ready and waited for Jimmy and Julie. While we waited some locals who own a cabin nearby came down to our camp and chatted about jeeps and bears…thoroughly scaring our female counterparts. They left right as Jimmy was pulling into camp. With Jimmy and Julie there we were able to finish the food for dinner and within 40 minutes the Dutch oven was smelling of Black Swamp Pasta (aka pizza pasta). By this point we also got ahold of Jimbo who confirmed he was not coming that night but would meet up with us in the morning at the trail head. We chatted and hung out around the fire before calling it a night and heading to sleep.
I realized when i was writing this that I didnt get any pictures from camp on the camera. I know larry did.
I will mention that as cool as this campsite is, there is one issue…. Its in the valley of the river below the interstate… on a down hill section. So every now and then we got to enjoy the wonder full sound of a jakebrake grinding down the hill. I didn’t notice to much, my female better half did..
NOTE: this guy was buried in that cemetery by the turkeys. LINK
Well this trip Started out Friday morning, Andrea and I finished some last minute packing and loaded up the jeep. We met up with Larry and Burgundy in the Cherokee at Zaxbys in Newberry to grab lunch. After lunch we made a quick gas stop and were on the road. We took I26 in hopes of getting up to the campsite in time to setup and go explore a few things I had been meaning to check out. We stopped at the NC welcome center to check and see if Jimbo was on his way but he was still doing some parts running so we motored on. We hopped off I40 at exit 15 and rode a short scenic trail with some mud and a few washouts.
The leaves in the area were awesome and we knew at that point it was going to be a great weekend for the fall colors. We made our way down the trail and came out on I40 where we took a short ride up to Exit 7 to head to the camp spot.
After a short ride down to the river where we were camping we setup and decided to head to a lookout I had read about called “Buzzards Roost”. The four of us headed up the forest service road and with the help of the gps and some paint on a tree found a small trail leading down from the shoulder of the road.
Thankfully there was a rope on this hill because if not I can see somebody falling to their death if it was wet!! We took some pictures and pretended like we weren’t scared of falling to our death from the huge cliff overhang with rocks below. Our dog Roxie couldn’t be convinced that it was safe, as seen in the photos.
After that we headed back to camp and got the fire ready and waited for Jimmy and Julie. While we waited some locals who own a cabin nearby came down to our camp and chatted about jeeps and bears…thoroughly scaring our female counterparts. They left right as Jimmy was pulling into camp. With Jimmy and Julie there we were able to finish the food for dinner and within 40 minutes the Dutch oven was smelling of Black Swamp Pasta (aka pizza pasta). By this point we also got ahold of Jimbo who confirmed he was not coming that night but would meet up with us in the morning at the trail head. We chatted and hung out around the fire before calling it a night and heading to sleep.
I realized when i was writing this that I didnt get any pictures from camp on the camera. I know larry did.
I will mention that as cool as this campsite is, there is one issue…. Its in the valley of the river below the interstate… on a down hill section. So every now and then we got to enjoy the wonder full sound of a jakebrake grinding down the hill. I didn’t notice to much, my female better half did..
NOTE: this guy was buried in that cemetery by the turkeys. LINK
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