Stone Mountain State Park, North Carolina

We went camping for our 25th anniversary in Stone Mtn State Park NC. We've never been there, and didn't know much about it, but picked it based on it's proximity to Mount Airy NC, and it's remote campground. It turned out to be a very nice place. The campground wasn't crowded - always a plus - and it was quiet & peaceful. Our camp site was next to a gurgling creek, and had a nice view of the little valley we were in. While we would have like to have had more shade, we made our own shade with an old tarp we always take along 'just in case.'

Hiking in the park was fun. Beautiful forests, and well maintained trails are always a good thing. (Even tho' the signs were not always clear!) There was a 200' waterfall tumbling down the mountain ~ quite a sight. Blake was the only one brave enough to hike around the entire mountain. (Yeah, the rest of us are wimps.) There was also an old homestead in a meadow beneath Stone Mountain. Rock climbers were scaling the granite walls - what a challenge! I think they were crazy!

We spent some time next to a creek where the boys played. They mostly skipped rocks & just splashed...but Cole always finds a way to totally immerse himself in any body of water.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is beautiful. Every twist and turn of the road brings another stunning view of the mountains, valleys and forests. While the weather that day was a bit dreary, it's still pretty hard to mess up a fabulous scenic overlook of the mountains.






















Around camp we spend a lot of time reading, just sitting around, playing games, and just generally enjoying being together and as well as being lazy. Blake found some blueberries while on our waterfall hike - he enjoyed them in his pancakes.





Blake discovered a GIGANTIC apple tree in the campground. It was absolutely HUGE! We think the little valley where we camped must have been an old homestead - and this apple tree left over from the original farm. We've never seen such a huge apple tree.
























Happy Anniversary....