Big lost cove cliff

I have never heard of Wilson’s creek wilderness. Randy Shay told us about the area. Mike came up on Wednesday and did a hike and bought tickets to an oyster roast at aunt Betsy’s country store. So he decides to take Friday off and get in another hike. Now that I’m doing the trail blaze challenge I decide to go with him.

Friday morning we load up the dogs and take 2 cars to Wilson’s creek. I’m following. This is west of lenoir and Morgantown. He turns down a dirt road just big enough for one car and we go for about an hour. It rides along a beautiful clear as glass creek called Wilson’s creek. Every twist and turn of the road follows the twists and turn of this river. Some areas are rapids some are smooth some are deep and some are shallow. Lots of river rock lines the banks. It is beautiful.

We get to the visitors center which appears to be out in the middle of no where. It’s a beautiful log cabin. We stop and buy a map. We travel up the dirt road 3 more miles and there is aunt Betsy’s Store. Now Saturday they are having an oyster roast with 10 blues bands. I’m thinking these bands need hazard pay for this drive. We really have to pull to the side just to let cars pass. The locals just zoom through these gravel roads.

There is quite a few campers at Aunt Betsey’s but that’s not where we are staying. We go a couple of yards up the road to Mortimer campground. There is a board with info on it. It’s first come first serve. You are supposed to fill out the dncelope and put $10 for each night in it and drop it in the box.

There are about 19 campsite and two bath houses. No one is here but us and of course I get nervous.

We leave one car here and go up the road to do a hike. We are on a small gravel road which actually is highway 90! We pass lots of trail heads along the way. About 9 miles up we come to our trailhead. There is one car there.

We unload the dogs. And cross the street and head up the trail. Mike can’t remember how far it is so we are hiking blind.

It’s a pretty good trail wide some ups some downs and lots of flat area.

He is doing pretty good but the uphill really gets him. He insists cooper stays on his leash cause he just knows the dog is going over a cliff if we let him run. It’s exactly 1.9 miles to the cliffs.

There is a family up there. 3 boys and mom and dad. The youngest is 3 years old and he walked it. I kept telling them how lucky they are to have their parents take them to places like this!

Mike is still sitting back because he really does not like highs. From up here we have amazing views. We can see the blue ridge parkway and Grandfather mountain.

I am sporting my Trailblaze Challenge shirt so I have to get a pic to document it.

After enjoying these views we had back down the path. Cooper is such a trail dog. He is darting back and forth across the trail trying to find some kind of life. I have been hearing a grouse nearby. It must be courteous because it literally followed us about a mile. Cooper was going crazy trying to find it. At one point it flew past about 8 feet over cooper. He took off trying to follow it.

We get back in the car and head back to the campground. When we get there we have plenty of neighbors now. Everyone around us is tent camping. We are car camping which is actually pretty cool.

start we start grilling dinner. We have Chicken, sausage and spaghetti squash. I have to say grilled spaghetti squash with garlic butter is awesome! We don’t have plates or silverware we are just eating off the grill. No clean up this is nice.

Time to light a fire. The rain is coming so it’s getting cold.

The back of my Jeep is super comfortable. Having the 2 dogs in there helps keep it warm in there. When I woke up the car had condensation all over it. If we had been in a tent we would of had to put up a tent wet so score another for car camping!

It’s a damp morning and it started to sprinkle. Before I get ready to head back we hike a short hike through the back of the campground to a nice little waterfall.

After the hike I leave as I head back toward Aunt Betsy’s there are runners everywhere. I have to follow and dodge runners for the next 8 miles. I know this because there are mile markers. It’s called Peak to creek. It’s a 26 mile race that ends at Brown Mountain Beach club. They run along side Wilson’s creek the whole way. Really a great place to be. The dogs and I stop at an access point and go look at the river before heading home.

I pass Brown Mountain Beach Club which is right on the creek and the finish line for the race. I make a mental note to come check out this place another time.

There is plenty more hiking at Wilson’s creek and I cannot wait to go back!