Craggy Gardens and Wild Blueberry Picking – North Carolina

I had a really awesome month of visitors in August. I had my brother, my friends Jocelyn & Stacey and my parents.  I’m going a bit out of order, but I had some pretty fun experiences with my parents. My parents are so important to me. I’m lucky enough to be extremely close to the both of them, to have traveled with the both of them together and separately, and they’re so incredibly supportive of me and my love for explorations. It was so amazing for me to get to show them why I love the mountains of North Carolina.

My parents and I had a few days on the parkway, but these are instances where I shared a special moment with each of my parents individually on this trip.

My mom and I had an evening of picking wild mountain blueberries while my dad did a short little hike to a waterfall. Graveyard Fields is a fun hike with waterfalls on either end, but when you walk from one to the other there are several areas where wild blueberries and blackberries grow! My mom and I crawled back into the bushes picking beautifully blue, round and sweet berries and putting them in bags to take home, or even better, into our mouths.  My dad joined us after his little hike, and it was a family affair to try to fill the bags.  They’re so fantastic and yummy! It’s a pretty cool experience to be out in the middle of nature, and have this beautiful moment of picking wild berries. Thank you, mother nature.

My dad and I had a fun parkway moment together too. We spent a day going North on the Blue Ridge Parkway. (This was a first for me.) We drove up to Craggy Gardens, which I cannot wait to visit in the spring when all of the flowers are blooming. It made for a beautiful hike regardless, though. We did the Pinnacle hike to the top of the mountain and we got a beautiful view of the Asheville water reservoir (where the Hunger Games were filmed).  The trail itself is beautiful. It’s a bit like walking through a tunnel of trees and shrubs. It’s green and beautiful. There’s a stunning overlook at the top, and there are wild blueberries there too! It was great to get to hike with my dad because it’s one of my favorite things in the world to do!

I loved having my parents in town. (And I have a few more posts on their way about the amazing adventures we shared). I’m super lucky because they’ll be back again in a few weeks and I’m hoping that we can share some fun and cozy experiences in my favorite season with all of the beautiful fall colors.