From Mayberry to the Mountain

From Mt. Airy, I drove about 14 miles south to Pilot Mountain State Park. The weather was beautiful and after that artery-clogging pork chop sandwich (and a late night adventure to Waffle House with some new friends on Friday night), the least I could do was to try to walk it off.

I drove for what seemed like forever up a winding road to get to the Pilot Mountain hiking trails. On the way up, I passed six or eight bicyclists that made me wonder what kind of stamina and/or willpower was required to heave themselves up that hill on two wheels. I then hoped they had enough brakes on those bikes to get back down the hill.

The first trail I saw was a “moderate” trail called Jomeokee which my Hooked on Phonics told me was pronounced “Yo, me OK” so I figured that was some sort of cosmic sign that I could do it (even in the high altitude) without a problem. After all, I know Tony and Beto and Shawn T. You don't scare me, big mountain! Some distance into this hike, I saw another sign for a 2.2 mile “strenuous” trail that branched off of Jomeokee. I paused to ponder taking that road less traveled. By the time I hiked up to and around the knob of Pilot Mountain and got back to that sign, I was very glad I took the shorter, less strenuous trail. I felt like one of the Toughman competitors from Friday night who needed oxygen but I powered on and finished the trail. By the time I got back to the Jomeokee sign, I wanted to pull out my sharpie marker and change it to JomeNOTokee but I’m sure there’s some sort of law about that.

I wandered down a few more “moderate” trails and kept a keen eye out for legless creatures and critters. Thankfully, there were none. I did have to pay close attention when taking photos; I have a tendency to step back to get the view I want in the lens; you can’t really do that when there’s a significant possibility of plummeting down the side of a mountain.

But, a few hours later, with no injuries except a severe case of the jelly legs, I drove back down the mountain and headed to my hotel to get ready for Saturday night’s fights.

All in all, Mt. Airy and Pilot Mountain were great ways to spend my sunny, almost-summery Saturday. I think I spent 10 dollars the whole day (Pilot Mountain was free; the Andy Griffith Musuem was 3 dollars; lunch was 7 including tip). For fun, affordable entertainment, you can’t beat that! I think I’ll be a tourist in my home state again and I’ll definitely spend my summer trying to take better advantage of the parks that are around the Triangle; I forgot how much fun hiking in the fresh outdoor air can be.

I hope you took advantage of your Saturday and that you found some adventure in an unexpected place. I hope your weekend was... Something More.