Discovering Our Hometown: Devil’s Courthouse

Continuing our staycation we used one of our free days to check out another local hiking spot. Devil’s Courthouse. 

When Husband planned to propose to me he had hoped to bring me to Black Balsam Knob just a short ways from here.  Both then and on our trip up the mountain we were met with dense fog and on our engagement day, a monsoon.  The mountain lived up to its sinister folk tale.

The hike up is about 20 minutes give or take depending on your cardiovascular capacity.  It is STEEP folks.  I was winded within a matter of minutes and I swear my bum is still sore even three days later.  

Galax is often harvested for the floristry industry and is fear to be overly exploited so much collection is now restricted.

I’m not too afraid of heights, but looking into a foggy abyss was enough to give me a skin full of goosebumps.

On a side note here. I am slowly accumulating a list of items I need to invest in.  Hiking apparel is top on the list.

Barbie goes hiking…

Not sure if its rare or unique, but I had never seen the likes of it except for in cheap mass prints at Ikea.

After resolving to eat our lunch and hope the clouds would break, it became our lucky day.  The clouds broke and the sunshine poured beautifully over the mountains.

The steep hike was more than worth the spectacular view.  We decided it was possibly the prettiest place on the parkway.  So green and lush and completely surrounded by those famous blue smokey mountains (blue due to the isoprene released from the trees giving the mountains that bluish haze). 

After relishing in the sunshine for a few moments we did in fact have our lunch.

Husband has a number of rules for hiking and picnicking but one that he is unrelenting on is the inclusion of wine (or champagne).

Buffalo Tofu and Blue Cheese Sandwiches (on Husband’s tomato loaf) and an asian salad (unpictured)

We didn’t stop there but to spare you a three page long post I will save our next spot for the next post 🙂