Hello readers! I hope you had a safe, happy, and restful Fall Break. Whether you went home and saw family, took a vacation, or stayed at college, I hope it was worthwhile. For this month’s article, I’d like to talk about my Fall Break. As you know, I attend NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. What you don’t know about me is I am a member of the Honors Program and live in the Honors Living and Learning Village. About a month prior to Fall Break, I received an email from one of the University Honors Program faculty about an upcoming Fall Break trip to Asheville exclusively for Honors students. Prior to this year, I’ve never experienced a Fall Break, and I knew I wanted to take advantage of it and do something fun. When this opportunity appeared in my mailbox, I knew I had to take it. I had already been to Asheville twice, but I had only experienced Asheville from the city side. I’ve had the opportunity to go to the Biltmore twice (and one of the times I went, I got to sing in the atrium), stay in the Grove Park Inn, and discover downtown Asheville and all it had to offer. All of these aspects are what make Asheville unique, but I had yet to experience the other side of Asheville that makes it even more unique: the outdoors. This email detailed an outdoor trip to Asheville that involved biking and whitewater rafting down the French Broad River and camping at Lake Powhatan. I was so excited after reading this email that I called my parents immediately to see if it would be ok that I went on this trip. They agreed, I filled out the application, and a couple of weeks later, I received an email from the same faculty member letting me know that I had been accepted to go on this trip. A couple more weeks of waiting and one pre-trip meeting later, it was time to pack and head off to the mountains of North Carolina. The rest of this article will detail my trip and everything that I experienced over my unforgettable Fall Break.
Day 1
I am absolutely not a morning person. If you ask anyone I know, they will tell you that I’d rather do something at 10:00 at night than 10:00 in the morning. However, my one exception to this rule is if I am going on a trip. I woke up bright and early on the Saturday morning of Fall Break and made my way to Carmichael Gym, where we loaded up the van and set off for the mountains. We stopped in Boone to get lunch and I got to see a Christmas Tree farm for the first time in my life. I genuinely did not think they grew on the side of highways, but I was wrong. After lunch, we drove through Boone and Banner Elk and I got to experience the most gorgeous views of the mountains and the mountain towns. Eventually, we crossed the border into Tennessee and drove for a little while longer before arriving at our first campground. Now you’re probably wondering why we’re in Tennessee when we should be in Asheville. Well, that’s what I thought the entirety of our trip was going to be. However, during the pre-trip meeting, we were informed that we would be spending the first day and a half in the Cherokee National Forest of Tennessee before driving back into North Carolina and heading to Asheville. “Oh yes” I thought, “this trip just got ten times better”. Prior to this trip, I had never been to Tennessee. I’ve been to every other state surrounding North Carolina, but never Tennessee, for some odd reason. Let me tell you, if you’ve never been to the Cherokee National Forest, you MUST go, especially during this time of year. It is absolutely breathtaking. We spent the rest of our first day at Dennis Cove Campground in Hamilton, Tennessee, right in the heart of the Cherokee National Forest. Our group climbed down to the river that ran alongside the campground and took tons of pictures. Again, absolutely breathtaking, and the foliage was in its peak colors. For the rest of the night, we cooked dinner, played a lot of hide and seek in the dark (which is a lot harder than it sounds) and got to know each other. Even though it had only been one day, I knew this group of people was going to be one that I never forgot.
Day 2
I should also mention that this was my first time ever camping outside (I know, a lot of firsts), and honestly, I expected way worse. I was fully expecting to wake up with a sore back and next to no sleep in me. However, I slept very well, and the sleeping bag was quite comfy. My tentmate was also a good sleeping buddy; she didn’t snore or move around at all. The two of us got up, disassembled our tent, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day. We left camp around 9:00am and set off for Lake Watauga. Once we got there, our trip leaders told us we could hike for an hour and a half before lunch. The group set off for the short (but steep) hike up the mountain. I had been hiking before (finally, something I had done before), but it had been years and the trails weren’t near as steep as these were. My very out of shape self had to stop a few times to catch my breath. The struggle was worth it though, because we reached several peaks and got to take some amazing photos of the lake and trees. You know the feeling when your friend takes the most amazing photos of you, candid or not? Two of the guys I had become friends with hooked me up and took perhaps some of the best photos of me to exist. They even took some candid photos I wasn’t expecting and they turned out amazing. We hiked back down the mountains and had lunch on the shore of the lake before taking off again, this time to North Carolina. About an hour and a half later, we reached French Broad Adventures, where we were told that our next activity was e-biking down the French Broad River. I had never been e-biking prior to this trip either, but man, was it exhilarating. For seven miles, we rode our bikes down the river and into the Cherokee National Forest, where we again crossed the border into Tennessee. If you’ve never been e-biking, imagine a regular bike and an electric scooter had a baby. That’s what riding one was like. You pedaled like you would on a normal bike, but you had a throttle to make the bike go if you didn’t want to pedal or were going up a steep hill. It was so much fun; I highly recommend trying it. Once we reached the end of the trail, we biked back to our starting point and loaded up the van to head back to French Broad Adventures, and then eventually, our next campsite. We set up camp at Lake Powhatan, cooked dinner, enjoyed a campfire, and hung out with each other for the rest of the night. It was a peaceful ending to a very exhilarating day.
Day 3
By day three, I was really starting to feel the effects of not being able to shower. When you go camping, you have no opportunity to shower. If you do not like being dirty for days on end, I do not recommend camping. However, I got over it. Our group had breakfast and got ready for the day before setting off for French Broad Adventures once again. This time, we were going whitewater rafting down the French Broad River. I had been whitewater rafting in Charlotte before, so I knew what to expect. I will say though, this whitewater rafting experience was much different than the one I had in Charlotte. The first way it was different was the views. In Charlotte, you had the views of the concrete and the park around you. In Asheville, you had the tremendous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding you. I hate that we couldn’t have our phones to take pictures because it was absolutely beautiful getting to experience the river and the mountains that close. The second way it was different was the waves. The course in Charlotte was much more difficult and the waves were a lot more powerful. In Asheville, the waves weren’t created by a machine, but rather by nature. This meant that they weren’t as powerful, but the river dragged us along for sure. The third way it was different was the fact that we got to eat lunch on the river. About four miles in to our five mile route, we pulled over to a small beach and had Subway-style sandwiches (essentially, make your own with the options provided). I was very tempted to swim in the river after I ate my lunch, but I didn’t have enough time. We finished our route and headed back to French Broad Adventures, where we changed into warm, dry clothes and set off for our next adventure. The next stop of the trip was Mount Mitchell. If you are not familiar, Mount Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It took over an hour to drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway and make it to the park, but it was absolutely worth it because we had the most incredible view of the mountains and valleys below us. Of course, I got even more amazing pictures. After parking the van and walking a short, steep hike to the top of the mountain, we got to experience being the tallest people in the Eastern half of the United States. There were four maps in each of the four corners of the railing telling you what direction you were facing and what you were seeing in the distance in front of you. To put it in perspective, we were so high up that we saw Charlotte’s skyline. We climbed and drove back down the mountains (but not before stopping at three overlooks to get some more amazing photos) and made it to our dinner spot for the evening. For our last night together, we decided not to cook, but to instead go to a local Mexican restaurant in Asheville. If you’ve ever been to the Cheesecake Factory, you know their menu is easily 23 pages. This was the Mexican version of the Cheesecake Factory. The menu had 12 pages of delicious entrees, but I decided to try the Birria burrito. It was incredibly good! After dinner, we drove back to our campground at Lake Powhatan and sat around a campfire for the rest of the night. Getting to see the stars in the clear sky and experiencing that with my new friends was the best way to end our last night together.
Day 4
The last day of the trip was upon me, and I did not want it to end. I reluctantly got out of our tent, disassembled it, and loaded everything into the van. For our last activity, we drove to the North Carolina Arboretum. Perhaps it was the time of year, or perhaps it was my mental overhype, but it did not impress me at all. Don’t get me wrong, I did see some beautiful flowers. There was not much though, and we only ended up staying for an hour. For the next five hours, we drove back to NC State and made two stops to have lunch at a rest stop and get gas. Once we made it back, we unloaded the van, and half of us ventured into the kitchen to clean the dishes and put them out to dry. When all of the cleaning was done, we said our last goodbyes, divvied up the leftover food, and went home. I was incredibly sad that it was over and that I was leaving my new friends, but I was happy that I was finally going to have a chance to shower and sleep in a comfortable bed. When I tell you that shower lasted around an hour, believe me, and it was glorious. The trip was officially over, but it will be an experience that I’ll never forget. I’m so grateful I decided to go and get out of my comfort zone and I’m even more grateful for the people I met and the new friends I made.
As you can probably tell by now, I had an amazing Fall Break. I can’t wait for next year….maybe I can take another trip to a new place. We’ll see. For now though, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this article. I also hope it inspired you to take a trip to the mountains this fall or whenever you are able to. See you in the next article!