Mount Mitchell, North Carolina

6,684ft.
June 2006

Highpoints:
Chris- 2 (1993 and 2006)
Lisa- 2 (1993)
Kellisa- 6

We planned a father/daughter week of camping in the Grayson Highlands of Virginia. Visiting Mount Mitchell was not part of the original itinerary. Our plans changed after Kellisa had a serious seizure in the middle of the 3rd night. Locked in a state park, in the middle of the mountains, hours from any kind of hospital is not the ideal situation for handling a seizure. It was 4 1/2 minutes that gave my heart a test better than any tread mill. After this scare, we opted to leave the deep mountains and drive roads more traveled while staying in hotels. Thankfully, she didn't have any more seizures on this trip.

On our new route towards home, I noticed that we would be traveling within an hour or so of Mount Mitchell and decided to make the side trip. Lisa and I visited the summit 13 years prior, the 2nd Highpoint for both of us. Without a detailed map, we drove several hours (instead of the one planned) on mountainous backroads before finding the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a beautiful, adventurous and a little scary drive, all at the same time.

Mount Mitchell (Photo by: Carolyn Granling):

Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in eastern North America, excluding island summits. It was the highest point in any state of the United States until Texas joined the union in 1845. Mount Mitchell is located in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians, and about 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Asheville. It is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest.

The mountain was named after Elisha Mitchell, a professor at the University of North Carolina, who determined its height in 1835 and fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls in 1857, having returned to verify his earlier measurements.

Summit photo:

While struggling to get Kellisa up the trail to the actual summit, a ranger hiking down from the top stopped for a brief chat. The only comment I remember and it still drives me to this day was, "In all my years being a ranger here, I've never seen anyone attempting what you are doing".

Kellisa enjoying the views and wind in her face: