Bear Country

Blue Ridge Camping

The boys and I made our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway this weekend and found lots of adventure. We camped at the Mt. Pisgah and were greeted by this sign indicating we were in "Bear Country".

We discussed what we knew about bears and how to avoid disturbing them. We pitched our tent in a cozy campsite and planned our next move.

We hopped back in the car and cruised 15 miles south on the Blue Ridge Parkway to an area called Black Balsam. This area was of interest to me because the mountains in this area are bald and afford beautiful views of the Pisgah ridge.

We hiked a few miles to the summit of this mountain, Sam Knob.

I really enjoyed seeing this meadow. This area is abundant with blueberries in August, but they were pretty dried up by now. Also, you could hear hundreds of bees buzzing around.

Fatigued and thirsty, we made it to the top of Sam Knob and were rewarded with this view.

The boys did the Lemur Sun Dance. You'll have to ask them why lemurs do this. We walked all the way around the top of the knob and got to see all of this.

We went back to the campsite and prepared our dinner over the fire. The park ranger held a show about coyotes. We arrived early, and a lot more children showed up. They got to howl at the moon and hear about how coyotes have spread across the United States.

We had a campfire of our own and the boys enjoyed sleeping in their tent under the stars. We put all of our food away in the bear canister, and the night went without any visits from critters. We got home around noon, and the boys were very happy to see their Mom.