asheville, pisgah, smoky mountains over three days
Three weeks before flying home, we squeezed in one more exchange trip. We drove to Asheville and used it as a base for three days in the mountains, with one lake, two long hikes, one sliding rock, and the kind of tired that makes a weekend feel properly used.
We started at Lake Powhatan, a small forest lake just outside Asheville. A swim, some food, and an easy afternoon before the heavier days was probably the right way to begin.
Saturday was the 18km trek up Mt. LeConte to Myrtle Point, taking the Alum Cave Trail through the Great Smoky Mountains. The trail begins in forest, passes under an overhanging bluff with stone steps cut into rock, then keeps climbing until the air and weather start to change. Clouds moved across the view every few minutes, so the mountain never looked exactly the same for long.
Myrtle Point sits right at the edge, with ridges folding away in every direction. When we arrived, heavy clouds were moving across the valley in slow sheets, opening and closing the view below. Reaching a place like that after a long climb changes how you take it in. You stand there with tired legs and let the conversation drop because there is not much to add.
Sunday we climbed Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest. The viewpoint is a wide exposed slab of granite tilted over the forest below. On the way up I was careful, and on the way down I found myself moving across the rock face more freely than I expected.
From there we drove to Looking Glass Falls, where water drops cleanly off a rock overhang into the pool below. Last stop was Sliding Rock, which is exactly what it sounds like, a wide granite slab with water running over it into a pool. You walk up the side, sit down, and let the current take you. I went several times and got fully pulled into how ridiculous and fun it was.
There is something useful about being outside in a way that requires your attention. On a rock face, in cold water, or halfway up a trail, the feedback is immediate. After a weekend like that, the usual worries feel smaller for a while. Not gone, but smaller.