leaving Brevard

We stayed a whole week here, which is unusual, and a sign of how well we liked it.

some mornings, some of us have a hard time getting out of bed…

Hops waiting for the next chapter

I cooked myself breakfast on my new stove (just like the old stove. but cleaner!) and headed out for a final day on the fine trails of the Asheville/Brevard/Hendersonville area. This is a beautiful region, and rich and deep in very fine trails; it is a shame to leave, but also has run its course for me, at least in the short-term. Another beautiful ride, and another beautiful sunny afternoon at a brewery; a final night at my campground, and it was time for the next thing.

Leaving town, we headed first up to Bearwallow Mountain, to hike to the top. I felt I’d been sent up this mountain by a book, which has happened to me before. In 2012, my then-husband Chris and I backpacked up a peak in the Gila National Forest to meet an author who was perched at the top, in his fire tower, watching over the trees.

on that earlier mountain

It was a magical experience, and part of a friendship I treasure now, even though we don’t talk much. Now, I climbed most of Bearwallow in Foxy, and hiked only the last mile or so (although it was steep-ish). I was lucky to meet the author of Bearwallow more than a year ago. I was thinking of his book, of what I learned of his place, as I drove and then walked uphill.

hiking in hoarfrost

I love its crystalline structure

There were lovely views from the top –

but also this –

which I thought about not showing you at all, but this is not an instagram-perfect version of vanlife.

There was a fire tower – this one is for Phil, author of the unequaled Fire Season.

And then we headed back down again.

And onward.