Laurel

Sept 25

Rain poured throughout the night. Around 2am and we had checked the tent, finding that the walls appeared to be weeping water. Heavy rainfall hour upon hour the tent survived.

We exited the tent with a game plan to quickly pack up to leave, as it becomes apparent that the hurricane in the Gulf is expected to come our way.

After saying our goodbyes to our neighbor Bob, we  parted ways. We exited the campground and went a mile or so to the falls visitor center, which we hiked a short distance along the  "Duggers trail" to get the early morning blood flowing.

The second stop was at the NPS mineral visitor center. This showing the detailed minerals excavated from the region and their importance. We got back on the parkway and experienced a few tunnels.

Burnsville, NC went to Hwy 55 burger shack. Resupplied and got fuel. When we arrived back on the BRP we were greeted by partially closed signage. As we continued on headed towards Asheville, as the plan was to take a break from the rain and get a hotel.

After several miles we were greeted by a maintenance crew team who had informed us the parkway was closing due to the expected high winds/rain of the upcoming hurricane. We were only maybe a half hour to hour away from Asheville, NC on the BRP. We had to backtrack and exit the parkway.

We made our way to Asheville via highway and got a room for the night. Surprisingly easy with Loki in tow. He seemed quite excited as we set our items down within the room. Watching the rain heavily fall in the area, it was a relief being inside.