Chimney Rock

Today I drove to Chimney Rock, South Carolina.  I walked around the town before heading to the state park and climbing Chimney Rock.

You drive up the mountain about three miles before you get to the parking lot to climb Chimney Rock.  I had asked a clerk in one of the stores about the parking, and they said it was paved and flat….  I really shouldn’t believe what non bikers say about the parking.  The whole parking area was on a pretty good slop and it had been patched a lot so nothing was smooth or easy to maneuver.  I parked where I would be able to drive forward and leave, basically over to the side of the roadway.  You will see in the pictures that climbing consists of stairs.  I believe they said 500 steps up which equals about 38.5 flights of stairs.  They do have an elevator, but it wasn’t working.  The views were amazing, well worth the climb up.  I don’t know if going up is harder or going down.  My legs were shaking by the time I got back down to the store at the bottom.  They had picnic tables and a few rocking chairs, so I sat for a little bit before getting back on the bike.

While I was there, two bus loads of 9 year olds came on a field trip.  Boy are those teachers brave!  The kids were very good, and still had a lot of energy by the time they got back down to the bottom.   I’m sure they will crash either on the way home or when they get home.

There were a couple different hikes around the chimney, and a hike over to some waterfalls.  The waterfalls would have been neat to see, but it was about a mile away and I still needed to ride a ways to get to a hotel.  Maybe I will plan another trip there to do that.

Love and Light to you all!