hike into winter up Grandfather Mountain

That's the Mo stance. ;-) I had a lot of fun on this hike. Matt was running in sandals, crazy birthday boy!

That section of the Blue Ridge Parkway called the Linn Cove Viaduct, heading north alongside Grandfather Mountain, is perhaps my favorite. The parkway reminded me of the causeways down in Florida, like the one heading out to the Keys. They're flat, and out of your peripheral vision, you see expanses of blue. But driving out here far away from the beach, I got another jolt of happiness in realizing that the "sea" beside me was a sea of blue ridges and clear sky, not water. I was high up!