Here's a conclusion that took way too long to come to: Not a good weekend to go backpacking at Grandfather Mountain.
Brrr. The top of Grandfather Mountain. Photo by Hugh Morton.
Last week — when the temperatures were in the '80s — Alan and I decided a three-day trip to what is becoming our newest state park would be a good idea. The idea looked less good on Monday when the forecast suggested a wet cold front would be descending on the state. Still, we held out, continuing to make plans: who would bring dinner the first night (Alan), who would drive (me), who would complain first about the cold (me again). It wasn't a game of chicken we were playing, we really wanted to go backpacking at Grandfather Mountain. Even as the forecast was predicting a wintry mix for Thursday into Saturday, we continued to plan.
Then I got to poking around the weather portion of the Grandfather Mountain Web site. Thursday evening, I found that the mountaintop temperature was 32 with a wind of 17 mph gusting to 35. I was reminded that this is a big, exposed mountain, that winds exceeding 100 mph are not uncommon. " The best rule is," cautioned the Web site, "When bad weather strikes, leave the backcountry by trail as quickly and safely as possible." Meanwhile, the forecast for rain had gone from "periods of" to simply "rain."
This morning, Alan left a message on my cell. "I'm feeling very ambivalent about this weekend," he said. "I have zero interest in going to the mountains this weekend," I trumped him when I called back. It's not that we don't mind a little weather — we like getting out in bad weather, in fact. We just don't care to die. So we compromised: We're heading to Raven Rock State Park.
And I'm pretty sure I'll live to tell you about it Monday.
