Grandfather Mountain State Park (5.5 miles; d=9.70)
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Grandfather Mountain State Park Hike Route Map
The approximate track of my hike along the Grandfather and Underwood Trails, at Grandfather Mountain State Park, as depicted a la Google Earth...
Grandfather Mountain State Park Hike Route Map
The approximate track of my hike along the Grandfather and Underwood Trails, at Grandfather Mountain State Park...
Looking up to McRae Peak from "The Patio" not far from the Swinging Bridge parking area. The trail pretty much climbs straight up it.
Looking up to McRae Peak from "The Patio" not far from the Swinging Bridge parking area. This is a wide-angle view from the same spot as the previous photo.
As the trail nears the base of McRae Peak it gets increasingly rough.
It's a bit of a tight squeeze to access the first ladder up McRae.
Tynecastle View
Exposed Ladders
Looking over my shoulder back to Linville Peak(5295').
Looking west to Sugar Mountian from one of the high ladders on McRae Peak.
Looking south at the top of the last ladder on McRae Peak.
As you can see anyone who is bothered by heights could get a little nervous here.
Looking back along the ridge to Linville Peak(5295'). The Swinging Bridge parking area and visitors center can just be seen between the peaks.
The Rugged Ridge
Looking north along the ridge as the Grandfather Trail approches McRae Peak.
A close-up shot of one of the ladders to the north, on Attic Window Peak.
Looking north to Attic Window Peak from the summit of McRae. You can see people carefully making their way down "The Chute" which I would be climbing next.
The perched rock that marks the summit of McRae Peak stands to the right. Attic Window Peak(5949') is in the distance to the left.
A dark shot of the ladder you havOne of two benchmarks on McRae. I'm unsure why there are two. They are even dated the same.e to climb to get atop the boulder that is the summit of McRae.
One of two benchmarks on McRae Peak. I'm not sure why there are two as they both have the same date.
The second of two benchmarks on McRae Peak. I'm not sure why there are two as they both have the same date.
Looking west to Sugar Mountain from the summit of McRae Peak.
The knife-edge ridge that extends to the north from the summit of McRae Peak.
