Ash Grove Cabins and Camping's Blog

Winter Hiking in the Western North Carolina Mountains

ashgrovebrevard — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:22:34 +0000

We have had some incredibly beautiful and mild weather this winter in Transylvania County–perfect hiking weather. In summer, with the trees loaded with leaves, the vistas can be limited, but this time of year, on a clear day you can see forever. Here are some shots from recent outings at East Fork Falls (just 5 miles from Ash Grove), Sassafras Mountain (the highest point in South Carolina, about 1/2 hour from Ash Grove) and Dupont State Forest (just 10 minutes from Ash Grove and home to 6 spectacular waterfalls and 90+ miles of hiking and mountain biking trails).

View from Sassafras Mtn, SC

“…a beautiful, quiet retreat…”

ashgrovebrevard — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:09:43 +0000

We keep a journal in each of our cabins for our guests to share their thoughts, artwork, advice to other guests, etc. Here is a recent journal entry from Jeanmarie & Harry of Cary, NC

“What a beautiful, quiet retreat. We loved the cabin, beginning with Mark’s kind welcome. Seeing 2 deer in the wooded area right next to our cabin was awesome, and they even waited for us to take some pictures! We liked the swing & the screened porch. We wanted to see the waterfalls and we visited a lot of beautiful ones. We took a tour with Miller’s Land of Waterfall Tours and it was great–he planned the tour to our “senior status” and we loved it. Having fresh trout several times was a treat.

Steven and Mark, you’ve made Ash Grove a perfect blend with the wonders of nature. Thanks for a great bit of R & R.”

Here is another one from some of our regulars, Billy, Michelle & Family, Murfreesboro, TN

“Mark & Steven,

Well, Guys, another trip & as usual it ended all too soon. I think I speak for the entire family in saying that our world is a better place now that we know you guys are here. Thank you for being such wonderful hosts & sharing all that you have here at Ash Grove with us & and all that stay here. We wish you guys health, wealth & happiness. Until next time!”

We have well over 1,000 of these writings, so we will be sharing them on a regular basis.

Sunday’s Hike–a Study in Contrasts

ashgrovebrevard — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:11:39 +0000

The day before Valentine’s Day was a beautiful, warm (60s), sunny day here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This week’s hike was on the North Slope Trail. It is one of the easiest loops in Pisgah Forest and only about 3.5 miles long. The name “North Slope” should have given me a clue (but it didn’t), that the trail does not see much sunshine, so there was still some ice and snow along the way. The contrast between hiking in shirt sleeves while dodging ice patches was really pretty cool (no pun intended)! I took the loop clockwise, and near the end is an old family cemetery, with graves from the late 1800s and early 1900s. There is also an old stone road marker with “B.V. 6″ and “P.B. 6 1/2″, with B.V. being Brevard and P.B. being Pink Beds, an old settlement area near the Cradle of Forestry.

Winter Hike in Dupont Forest

ashgrovebrevard — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:15:34 +0000

The winter weather and my schedule have not cooperated with my hiking this year, but everything came together yesterday and I had a good hike in Dupont State Forest, just a 10 minute drive from Ash Grove. I was expecting there to still be some ice and snow on the trails, so I thought that I should hike a trail that I am familiar with. I picked the Big Rock trail, which I could just about hike blindfolded–this is the trail that we take our guests on for our Full Moon Hikes, and don’t even use flashlights most of the time. The loop that I hiked starts out at the Corn Mill Shoals parking area on the Corn Mill Shoals trail, then takes the Big Rock trail, then the back half of the Cedar Rock trail to the Little River Trail, back to the Corn Mill Shoals trail to the parking area, a total of a little over 3.5 miles. The trail was fairly icy at this first part, but once I made the turn onto Big Rock trail, most of the snow was gone. There were still some ribbons of ice on the exposed granite portions of the trail. Then once I got back down to the bottom of the trail, again there was quite a bit of ice and snow. The temperature was in the low 40s and made a perfect winter hike. Come on up, stay at Ash Grove and enjoy your own adventure in the forest!

Click to view slideshow.

Winter Weather

ashgrovebrevard — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 15:25:20 +0000

On 7 Jan, 2011, we had a light dusting of snow, but the mountains on the TN-NC border received up to a foot of snow. The roads are clear here in our area, but they are predicting 2-5″ on Sunday night/Monday.

Click to view slideshow.

Short Hike on a Winter’s Day

ashgrovebrevard — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:56:32 +0000

Yesterday, I decided to take a short hike (just a walk, really) on the Andy Cove Nature Trail, in Pisgah Forest. It is an easy 0.7mi loop, with a boardwalk, swinging bridge, amphitheatre, stream, and great views. I have meant to walk that trail many times, but never seem to be able to remember it when I am in the area. The 7″ of snow just added to the beauty.

A Fall Afternoon

ashgrovebrevard — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:59:49 +0000

A rainy–but still beautiful–afternoon at Ash Grove. http://ow.ly/i/4xix The leaves on the oak trees are still green, but the sourwoods, dogwoods, maples are just about at peak color.

Our (Busman’s) Holiday

ashgrovebrevard — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:48:23 +0000

We have had an extremely busy Summer, and with leaf season almost upon us, we decided that we needed a little break. We took a couple of days off this week and went camping. Our love of camping is one thing that led us to purchasing Ash Grove, but this is the first time that we have been camping since we bought a campground almost 8 years ago! It was also the first time that we have been tent camping in longer than that–we had a pop-up camper for several years.

We trekked to the Mt. Pisgah campground, on the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 45 minutes from us. It was the 2 of us and our 3 dogs. Ernie, a mini-doxie, is 11 and had been camping with us many times. This was the virgin camping trip for Max, the 2.5 year old Basset-Cocker mix and Mr. Henry, the 12 year old mini-doxie, a rescue (and a couch potato) that we have had for a couple of months.

The weather was perfect at 5000′+ elevation–low 70s in the day, upper 40s at night and not a cloud in the sky. Our tent was a castoff from some of our guests. They left it at Ash Grove because they found it to be a pain in the neck. It was too big for us, really, and was made to attach onto the back of a Jeep Liberty, but it was avaliable (and free). We practiced setting it up before we left (as every camper should do with a new tent!), so it went up pretty easily at the campground.

Our afternoon activity (after setting up camp), was a trip to Skinny Dip Falls (but no skinny dipping) on the Parkway. The hike was relatively easy and about 1/2 mile each way, plus a short detour on another trail. The dogs enjoyed all the smells and meeting other hikers and dogs (an older wire-haired mini-doxie and a perky long-haired doxie, among others). It was our first trip to the falls, a small waterfall but with a beautiful, deep, crystal-clear pool at the bottom. Mr Henry was starting to lag behind a little on the way back to the car.

Dinner was grilled pork loin, baked potatoes and campfire beans. One note here: when we used to camp frequently, we had lists of everything we needed to take with us and always had everything we needed. Those lists have long ago disappeared, so a few things like a can opener (Steven did have the one on his Swiss Army Knife, but it needed some sharpening!), a potholder and other necessities were missing, but we made do.

At bedtime, the dogs had their beds and we had an air mattress. Another note here: since it has been several years since we went camping and several years before that since we slept on an air mattress, we can tell you that the knack of sleeping on the ground does NOT come back to you after a long absence, like riding a bicycle does! These old bones did not like it one bit, and each of us got less than 2 hours of restless sleep. We did enjoy the sounds crickets, katydids and tree frogs. The coyotes howling in the not-too-distant distance, just before dawn, got the boys stirred up, so that really put an end to sleep.

After a leisurely breakfast, a walk around the campground and some time with a book, it was time to pack up and come back home. Unpacking and naps (for all 5 of us) was the order of the afternoon. The tent, which was a pain in the neck, is awaiting a trip to the Goodwill store. The dogs appeared to have a good time, but they really don’t seem to be good camping dogs (they constantly paced around the campsite and tied each other up with their chains, rather than lying by the fire like a camping dog should). Between the bed/sleep situation and the dogs, we have decided that we probably won’t go tent camping again–it’s back to a pop-up or camper for us.

Ash Grove’s Camping for a Cause II

ashgrovebrevard — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:07:48 +0000

Friends for Life, Forever Farm

Ash Grove is having our 2nd Camping for a Cause event this Friday, 17 September, 2010. The money from campsite rentals will be donated to one of our favorite charities, Friends for Life’s Forever Farm, a sanctuary for senior and special needs dogs and cats. “Our residents enjoy a home like environment consisting of both private and group living rooms, porches and large fenced grassy play areas. The majority of our residents will be adopted into loving homes, but some who may be very old or ill will remain at the Forever Farm for the rest of their lives.
Please help us with our mission to help these animals live the best life possible by supporting the Forever Farm. Volunteer your time, donate funds, appreciated stock and supplies; tell your friends and family, and come meet our residents when you are ready to adopt a pet.”
Our first event, in May 2010, raised several hundred dollars for The Haven of Transylvania County, a temporary shelter for the homeless, that is in its design phase, and still raising money.

The Millipede House

ashgrovebrevard — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:24:46 +0000

We have decided to share some of the wonderful stories that our guests send us, telling about their experiences at Ash Grove. Here is the first one:

Hi Mark and Steven,

We can’t thank you enough for being such wonderful hosts at your beautiful campground. We had a lovely family camp trip and appreciate you making your campground feel like a bed and breakfast. We especially loved the evening piper in the campsite.

Our daughter Ava (6 years old) met a sweet friend and wanted to share this story with you about her experience. Ava and Hannah spent a great deal of time creating a ‘house’. They stayed busy at work with rocks, sticks and bugs.

“I met a new friend Hannah at the campground. She was walking to the bathrooms and found a millipede. I came to see it. She had it in a small home. Hannah went to eat breakfast and I watched the millipede and built a ceiling with sticks. Other kids came over. One brought a grasshopper and he jumped away. Hannah finished breakfast. We had the idea to build a bigger home. We took the rocks down and made it bigger. We built an apartment with 4 rooms. One for the millipede, and the rest for the ants. The middle was a backyard. Mark took pictures of the house.”

Thank you again guys. We hope to be back next summer for more exploring!

Frank, Tracey, Emerson and Ava