Friday, October 11
Beautiful 42 degrees this morning! We first drive to a nearby country store which has a little of everything, including gas and breakfast - but no propane.
So we drive a few more miles to the town of Blue Ridge. We get gas and call the propane place across the way, but their technician is out on a call so instead we go to Royal Waffle King for some breakfast.
He's back as we finish breakfast so we get a quick refill, except he has some issues with the valve (which we just replaced before this trip!) It finally reseals ok and the technician says it may just have been dirt or something in the valve, so we are good.
We then follow the signs for Mercier Orchards which isn't far out of Blue Ridge. The parking areas are PACKED! They are offering wagon rides to pick your own apples and have lots of takers, mostly families with small kids. We content ourselves with wondering the premises and checking out apples, a cider bar and lots of apple-and-other-fruit-related products.
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| Lots of Honey too! |
Next stop is Fall Branch Falls. Lots of people here to enjoy the half mile hike to the falls. Pretty much a steady stream of people.
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| Had to wait quite a while to get a picture without people! |
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| Greg exploring. |
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| Nearby there were geodesic yurts to rent for "glamping". |
We know that our campsite tonight is rather remote, since we talked to a ranger about going there. It is up in the National Forest and requires 10 miles of dirt road which winds through the mountains to Lake Conasauga. We had to make reservations for this one too.
Pretty scenery on the way, including more kudzu, which just overtakes anything in its way!
The dirt/gravel road isn't bad except for a couple of washed out areas early on. Good thing there is no traffic, since it is mostly single lane!
We find our site. #8 on the upper loop and take a walk down to the sparkling lake.
By the time we get back and start to think about dinner, most of the campsites are filled! A great place for fishing and canoeing/kayaking apparently. Greg gets a nice fire going so that we can use the coals to make some silver turtles for dinner. They consist of chopped potatoes, onions, carrots, chicken, bacon and spices wrapped in foil packets and cooked on the coals. They turn out pretty good!
Quiet campground - we've been fortunate to not have any rowdy, loud neighbors this trip! (Knock on wood!)
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