Yesterday, we planned to go to Mt. Mitchell State Park, but we ran into a road closure. We had been driving a harrowing, winding road up through the mountains, and weren't sure what to do. Thankfully, there was a kind lady who had been walking her dogs who sensed our confusion and stopped to talk to us. She told us the area we were in was full of trails, and great for hiking, so we parked the car on the side of the road and set out to find the trailhead. 

Ice along the side of the road as we drove up into the mountains. 

It turned out we had happened upon the Mountains to Sea trail, which you apparently could hike along for a very long time. It was unusually busy...it was strange running into other groups of hikers and dog walkers in the middle of the mountains. I guess at only about 25 minutes outside of Asheville, it is an understandably popular choice. It allowed us to find someone to take a photo of us together! 

The views were gorgeous. We were somewhere around 3,100 feet elevation. It was a clear day and we could see for miles; we could even see smoke and a town a few mountains over. 

We hiked for about 5 hours in total. Dave found us great walking sticks, once the roots of an upturned tree. They made us feel like explorers. 

It's hard to tell from the photo, but this was a brilliant purple-blue plant located all along the trail. We're not sure what it is; anyone have any guesses?