A seven-mile loop around Pilot Mountain in North Carolina ends with steps. Lots and lots of stairs, in part for erosion, but mostly to taunt older hikers who do not do stairs well.

To be fair, the stairs were not a surprise. There are stairs at the beginning (it is a loop after all) but they didn’t seem so bad when I started out. By the end of the trail I crawled up stairs, rested. Crawled up more stairs, rested. Crawled up more stairs, and well, you get the picture. Eventually, I attained my goal, a seat at the picnic table and some food.

Overall the hike was beautiful and peaceful, just like a hike in the forest should be. You start with some views of the valley and drop down into a loop around the mountain. It was beautiful with little interference from the world of man. A good nature hike. The seven-miles were fairly easy… except for the stairs. What can I say? I’m just not good with stairs. Note there isn’t a single photo of the stairs. I had no energy left to take photos on them.

Rock begs for a story.
Perfect tree for a road sign.