My Cleveland office mate, Terri, and I are not often in Mt. A at the same time but this week, our assorted meetings and work schedules had us both in town and looking to do a little exploring after work. Pilot Mountain (14 miles south of Mt. A) is a dominant feature in the area landscape and we both considered it as an area of interest for some light hiking. We were not really sure what to expect but pleasantly surprised by what we found!
Pilot Mountain’s unique silhouette looms in the distance.
The mountain is located in Pilot Mountain State Park, which is divided into two sections, Pilot Mountain and the Yakdin River with a wilderness corridor between the two. We only had time to visit the mountain, a heavy rain and lightening storm began not long after we finished our hike. If the name, Pilot Mountain, sounds vaguely familiar to you, it was mentioned in some episodes of the Andy Griffith Show as a town “30-miles down the road.” The mythical town’s name was Mt. Pilot.
The view is great from the Little Pinnacle. Unfortuantely, smoke from major wild fires in Florida and Georgia limited visibility.
On the trail toward the Big Pinnacle or “The Knob”. That would be Terri walking, uh, skipping up the stone steps.
A view of the Big Pinnacle. The walls of The Knob are solid and rise 200′ above the landscape below. Vegetation grows on the flat area above the rockwall. This area was once open to tourists (via ladders) but I was told that an endangered bird nests at the top so access was closed. I think the climb to the top may have been a bigger risk than the park service was willing to take.
Mountain laurel is in full bloom on the mountain. As a matter of fact, the road leading to the parking lot near the top of the mountain is lined in mountain laurel as is the trail around the base of The Knob. Spectacular!
Pretty impressive rock! This is a shot of the wall of The Knob. My camera can’t even begin to rely the magnitude of the rock.
While mountain laurel is at it’s peak, rhododendren is just passed peak but still in bloom. Lots of rhododendren is intermingled with the mountain laurel. Have I used the words impressive or spectacular enough??
Terri on the trail around The Knob, taking a photo with her cell phone.
