Mount Mitchell – North Carolina

Dad and I snagged Mount Mitchell on one of our road trips before, but it was so close to where we were that we decided to go again. The drive there was….interesting. Dad asked Siri to take us there and we followed her directions. “Turn right and you will arrive at your destination.” She told us after awhile of driving. Dad and I both looked at each other as we steered the car in the direction Siri told us to go. “This doesn’t look at familiar at ALL!” I exclaimed. Dad agreed, but we were going up so we kept going. “You have arrived!” Siri proudly told us as we pulled into….a housing development. What. ON. EARTH.

Now if you’re into highpointing you might know that a state highpoint in a seemingly random area is possible (hello Delaware), but we had been to Mount Mitchell before – and we were definitely NOT in the spot.

I’m not exactly sure why Siri took us there, but we were about an hour out of the way. We found the REAL Mount Mitchell on the map and headed towards our actual destination – which is along the Blue Ridge Parkway – that’s more like it!

We enjoyed the views on more familiar drive up and parked at the lot near the top. It was a little chilly as I headed up the steep trail. So many wildflowers were blooming (I really hope they come back to Sassafras Mountain).

My camera battery was dying as I tried to get as many pictures and videos of the area I could – laughing that last time I was there, my camera had died and I had NO video at all of my time on the top. I managed to stretch the battery life out until I was on my way back to the car and my camera wouldn’t turn back on. No worries though – I didn’t need it anymore!

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