For New Year’s Eve, I requested to go camping on the side of a mountain so that we could watch the fireworks at midnight. Smalls as usual, was ready to meet my request and started researching more than a week ahead of time. Just when he thought he had it figured out, the weather forecast made it apparent that we would either be staying home or camping in the rain. Smalls went back to the drawing board and researched until he found somewhere with the lowest possible rain chances. We settled on Asheville, North Carolina. The morning of New Year’s Eve, we hopped in the car and headed north. I got on Hipcamp to find somewhere for us to stay. I stumbled upon an awesome campsite with almost 360° views just outside of Burnsville, North Carolina. It was not far from Hot Springs and Smalls has always wanted to go there. It’s the only part of the Appalachian trail that actually goes through a city. The campsite was amazing! It required four-wheel-drive to get there and we drove through a tunnel and next to a private runway in order to access our campsite. The only thing that would have made it better was if we were the only ones there. The campsite allowed for two spots and the second spot, which had the best views, had already been reserved. We decided to drive straight to camp and take our time setting up and fixing dinner. It was absolutely gorgeous. We got to take our time setting up with sunlight which can be rare for us. It was windy and cool so Smalls set up a tarp to give us some shelter. We had a quick and easy dinner then enjoyed ourselves by the campfire.
The next morning we took our time breaking down. But first we started the new year off with biscuits and gravy. I absolutely love our cook set-up. The stove is easy to set-up and break down. The camp oven is on the bougie side but must say I love it!
We were too close to Mount Mitchell, or so we thought, not to stop by. The GPS originally said 30 min but was more like 1 hour and 15 min. I’m uncertain if there was a closing on the Blue Ridge Parkway that caused us to re-route or just an initial error. This also confused us on the distance to Hot Springs. We thought it was only another 30 min but it was actually 2 hrs. Either way, we were glad we made the drive. This is the only place on the AT where the trail physically goes through town. You can see blazes on the bridge and down the street. We had a great meal at Spring Creek Tavern. The atmosphere was fun, food was good, and service was good. You can sit outside by the creek as well. The last time I was in Hot Springs it was a dry county. Now there are a few breweries. It seems like a fun, growing mountain town with some unique qualities. Smalls and I were struggling to find a place to camp and bad weather was moving in so we went home. It was a great way to start 2022! I can’t wait to see what adventures are in store for us this year.
Smalls and Talls Outdoors 