Tag: hiking

Los Angeles and Boone: What to do on a Beautiful Day

Dear Readers and Listeners,

We started off our planning for this podcast with a two-part question: If you want to get out of the house to take advantage of a beautiful summer day where you live, where do you go and what songs do you listen to on the way there and back?

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LOS ANGELES: Anne: It’s a Beautiful Day in LA, where do you go to take advantage of it? 

Point Dume
Dodgers Stadium
Griffith Park
Hollywood Bowl
Point Dume
The Last Bookstore
Santa Monica Beach
  1. Hike at Griffith Park, I like to park on the eastern side in my old neighborhood and then go up the side and across the ridge back down to the observatory.
  2. Go park at Santa Monica beach and walk on the beach or the walking path  all the way to Venice. Go to Abbott-Kinney and get lunch and do a bit of shopping, then walk back. Get a donut on the way back home at Randy’s in Santa Monica.
  3. Drive on PCH to Malibu and go to Point Dume. Lay on the beach and watch the ocean. Can also hike up the hill and do a nice short walk on the cliff above.
  4. Go downtown which is struggling a bit, but still fun things to do. Go to The Last Bookstore and peruse the aisles. Eat at the food stalls at Grand Central Market. Take a shuttle from downtown to a night Dodgers game.
  5. Shop along Melrose and La Brea. Fav store on La Brea, American Rag Cie. 
  6. Take the train to Universal and catch a movie at Universal City Walk
  7. Drive along Mullholland, drive on Benedict Canyon in the hills.
  8. Go to the Getty Center or the Getty Villa, not just for the art, but mainly for the beautiful grounds.
  9. Walk along Sunset Blvd and get a slice of Pizza at Prince Street
Anne’s LA Spots to Take Advantage of a Beautiful Day

BOONE, NORTH CAROLINA: Bill, It’s a beautiful day in Boone; where do you go to take advantage of it? 

Rough Ridge Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway
  1. Go to Blowing Rock, North Carolina
  • Walk Main Street and Sunset Drive. Go to Blowing Rock Brewery. Walk around Mayview Lake. Longer walk around Bass Lake. You’re by the Blue Ridge Parkway here and not far from Moses Cone Manor, Fire tower hike, and Price Lake.
  1. Do the Flat Top Tower Hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway across from Moses Cone Manor. 
  • Milepost 294 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Go stand on the back porch of the manor. Look down at Bass Lake in Blowing Rock. 
  1. Drive the parkway to Asheville. 
  • My daughter Izzy and I made a video of our spontaneous drive to Asheville here: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_torg/video/7378490239981079850
  • From Milepost 293 to 382. Approx 3 hour drive. Grandfather Mountain Overlook. Linville Viaduct. Craggy Gardens Pinnacle Trail.
  • Asheville recommendations: First timers usually go to the Biltmore. Downtown walking Lexington and around the Grove Park Arcade. Wicked Weed, Green Man Brewing. Have a drink at the Grove Park Inn. New Belgium Brewery on the French Broad River. Sierra Nevada Taproom. We like to eat at Rocky’s Hot Chicken and White Duck Taco.
  • Hikes near Asheville: Craggy Gardens, Graveyard Fields, Dupont State Forest.
  • Rafting: Skip the French Broad in AVL. Do Blue Heron Rafting, section 9 for adventure, north of Hot Springs my favorite stretch.
  1. Go to the Valle Crucis Park
  • Some days there is a $5 charge to park. There’s a mile trail that goes around the park. It’s on the Watauga River and there are several spots to go wade in the river. There is a large playground, a few disk golf “holes,” a baketball court, and a volleyball net. Trees that have been damaged have been carved into various works of art.
  • This is near Mast Farm, the Inn, two Mast General Stores, and there’s a new convenience store with food that I have not yet been to!
  • I go here almost every other day!
  1. Go to the Boone Greenway Trail 
  • Lots of people throw down a blanket and spend lots of time here. There is a long paved trail that winds around near a branch of the New River. There are many wide open athletic fields. There’s a trail that goes up into the woods. I think there is a new skate park there. If I want to treat myself, I will drive the seven miles into town and do my run on the Greenway. My daughter spends lots of time there with her friends and they play a fair amount of pickleball.
  1. Go to Linville Falls. 
  • This is the largest waterfall I know of around here. You can access off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. You might want to check if it’s open after the hurricane. You can also access just off of 183 turning briefly onto Old NC 105 where there is a parking area for the Lineville Falls Trail and Waterfall.
  • Watch out that there is a little town called Linville Falls too. The town is something like a mile from the falls.
  • Bonus: take your big truck or Jeep and drive Old North Carolina 105 / 1238 along the Linville Gorge. Wiseman’s View Scenic View Overlook is the highlight. 
  1. Drive Watauga River Road. 
  • It’s freshly graded with new gravel after the hurricane. Check out Laurel Creek Falls, known as Trash Can Falls, and the Watauga Gorge. There’s a different Laurel Creek Falls in TN and that could be confusing. You can do a nice little circle with Valle Crucis Park, the two Mast Stores, Watauga River Road, and then park to head over to the falls. Also lots of pull outs on the river where you might just go wade in the river or hang out on a rock.
  1. Grandfather Mountain:
  • This is a more expensive thing to do. You can drive to near the top. There’s a high swinging bridge you can stand on. Think there is even an elevator to that. There is a rescued animals habitat that I think has bears, cougars, and elk. For me the highlight is the hike the rest of the way to the top. It’s a pretty strenuous hike with vertical ladders to climb up. Your dog won’t be able to do those. You can go for free if you’re willing to do a really tough hike from the other side of the mountain.
One of the views from Watauga River Road out of Valle Crucis, NC
Driving alongside of Watauga River Road

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Original Mast Store Near Valle Crucis Park
Anne “hiking” the Grandfather Trail
Fire Tower Hike Across from Moses Cone Manor
Linville Viaduct on the way to Asheville from Blowing Rock, NC
Cooling off at the Valle Crucis Park
Linville Gorge from the Wiseman Overlook
popular spot at the Valle Crucis Park
Bill’s favorite spots on a map minus the complete drive to Asheville

We’d like to hear from you in the comment section:

  1. If you get out of the house on a beautiful day, where are you going?
  2. If you live near Boone, NC or Los Angeles, tell us what we missed.

Thanks for checking out our post and this edition of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Caitlin Clark Returns, Pacers and Thunder in the NBA Finals and Asheville Recommendations

On this week’s episode, Caitlin Clark Return to Indiana Fever, it’s two games each for the Pacers and the Thunder in the NBA Finals and Anne gives quick recommendations for Switzerland and I do Asheville on the Torg Stories Podcast.

Click above for audio / Click below for video version of the podcast

Happy Father’s Day!

  1. Memory of playing golf on many Father’s Days with Dad at Moss Creek in Winamac, Indiana.
  2. Walk with Megan and Charlotte (don’t think Izzy was born yet) over the Brooklyn Bridge and back.
  3. My Father’s Day requests for today: lift weights and family tree clean up. Fried chicken sandwiches with sliced fried potatoes for dinner.

Caitlin Clark returns to Indiana Fever and they beat the previously undefeated Liberty.

  1. Clark had been out 19 days with a thigh contusion.
  2. Fever go to 5-5 and are in 7th place out of 13. Liberty fall to second place at 9-1 behind the first place Minnesota Lynx. Click here for WNBA standings.
  3. Clark went out with with 5:44 to go in the first and they were down 15-6.
  4. Clark set out for at least twice as many short stretches. Wonder if that’s something to stay with?
  5. Fever were down 21-15. Then these three in 33 seconds: 33 foot running pull up three pointer AND 27 foot three pointers and 31 foot three pointer. Tied up 24-24. Finished the half with 25.

Key Stats:

  1. Sabrina 38 mins and 34 points. Stewart shot 14 free throws
  2. Fever 17-35 from three. Liberty 6-29.

Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals:

Feeling Frustrated about the Calls SGA Getting:

  1. That he can push off hard with his forearm all the time.
  2. That he swings his arms to try and draw the foul and that a defender can do everything possible to get out of the way and then they barely touch him and that’s a foul too.

It hurt that Nesmith ended up on SGA a lot late in the game. I’m really enjoying watching Nembhard play. Some Nembhard things I’m enjoying…

  1. Playing with his chest and staying down on SGA.
  2. Chippy with SGA
  3. Lots of ball handling as Dort takes away from what Haliburton is able to do.

Reasons for loss:

  1. Turner went 0-6 from 3. Overall 30% from three not great.
  2. No big scoring game from anyone.
  3. Worried OKC went 3-16 from 3 and won. Got beat 24 on the three point line and won.
  4. Guess I’d say winning at the line by 9 was a major difference. OKC shot 89.5% to Pacers 75.8.
  5. Pacers up 4 with 3:20 to go when SGA hit a three to cut to 1. The Pacers didn’t make a basket after that. They fouled before the ball was inbounded twice. They missed free throws. SGA made shots and free throws. Ball game!

How are you feeling about the Pacers for Monday ?

Some Pacers vs. Thunder statistical trivia…

  1. Who leads Thunder and Pacers in minutes? SGA 158 and Haliburton at 146
  2. Both teams rebounding? Holmgren 37 and Siakam 31, Haliburton 23
  3. Steals? SGA and Caruso with 10. McConnell with 8
  4. Three pointers made: Dort 11 and Caruso 8. Haliburton and Nesmith 10.

Eight Pacers are averaging 9.5 points or more. Can you put them in order?

  1. Siakam 18.8
  2. Haliburton 17.8
  3. Mathurin 13.5
  4. Turner 13.0
  5. Toppin 11.3
  6. Nembhard 10.8
  7. Nesmith 9.8
  8. McConnell 9.5

Anne recommends @C2_Cooper on Pacers Basketball.

Asheville and Switzerland Recommendations:

Anne gives her Switzerland recommendations while I give mine for Asheville.

Lauterbrunnen Valley from Anne’s balcony in Wengen

My friend Klop is going to Asheville with his wife. My wife Megan and I are meeting them for a day:

Two of my favorite areas don’t seem to be open for business. Riverside Drive southwest of downtown. Wedge Brewery, a place where you could pull your kayak up to the riverbank and walk over to relax. Also the Salvage Station further up on Riverside and then Ledges Whitewater Park. We once rafted the entire length of the French Broad River and made a film about it:

We rafted the length of the French Broad River (in sections) as a Family

First, a word on the Biltmore Estate: click here for information. Tickets start at $80. $299 for a pass. (looks like they have the flex pricing) Have to pick a time slot.

Downtown Asheville: 

Parking is tight. I used to park for free on N French Broad near Bee Thai Kitchen (which was really good!) and walk north into town. The Wall Street Garage by the Grove Arcade is a good pay to park spot. The Grove Arcade is a building with a bunch of shops in it and the Wall Street Garage is across from it. 

Interesting to think about how to tell Klop where to go. Do I order things by restaurants and breweries or by what part of town?

Some places downtown that if you walk to these you’ll see some good stuff on the way: 

  1. Battery Park Avenue / Grove Arcade. Malaprop’s bookstore on Walnut then walk down the hill on walnut. Lexington St. both ways lots of stuff. 
  2. College Street intersects with Lexington and lots of stuff. It does not go to UNC Asheville and UNCA is not worth seeing. Maybe more on that later. 
  3. I don’t recommend Tupelo Honey (crowded, expensive) but everyone tries to go there. It’s near Patton and College and they have regular drum circles there and there is often wild stuff going on there. That square is interesting. 
  4. Walking South on Biltmore (it would eventually go to Biltmore) is Wicked Weed which is a great place to sit outside and people watch and then further south Green Man Brewery. Between those two places is the “Orange Peel” which often has good music. 
  5. Asheville Brewing on Coxe (there are two and the other one has a movie theater by college) is close to downtown but not walkable. Lots of cool stuff around there. 
  6. There are the Asheville Tourists. I would not use my time in AVL to go to baseball but you might! LOL. Megan worked there, I think in her 20’s, and spilled a tray of beers on quarter beer night. She just walked out and never went back.  

My favorite hikes somewhat close to Asheville…

  1. Craggy Gardens is the best view we can think of. It is only 1 mile hike. A bit of a drive on Parkway. I have seen bears driving there. 
  2. Graveyard Fields. Off the Parkway. Waterfall down in the valley along the stream. 
  3. Dupont State Forest. The hike isn’t that great but you get to Bridal Veil Falls. The Last of the Mohicans was filmed there. You can walk behind the waterfall. If you go there, check out the small town of Brevard. 
  4. Other cool towns close: Black Mountain. Hendersonville.

Rafting:  Blue Heron Rafting is very good. It’s north of town. Do section 9. 

Grove Park Inn:  Click on the link and look at the view from the restaurant.Best view in Asheville. Presidents including Obama have stayed there. I can’t remember but you might have to pay to park. At least walk around, read the plaques, and have a drink at the bar. Less casual than other places I’ve mentioned. Polo shirt and khaki shorts probably right Klop attire. 

New Belgium Brewery: On the French Broad River. Not too far from downtown. High up on the bank of the river. I really like it and I really liked all the little breweries on the other side of the river that are no longer open. Click here.

West Asheville: Hipster area at Haywood Road and 240. The Admiral is there and that area around there. I made a documentary about Christopher’s Garden in West Asheville but it isn’t there anymore.  

South Asheville: Sierra Nevada Taproom. Click here. My family loves it. It’s huge. Kind of “polished” for me but a really nice outdoor space in back. Live music sometimes. The Baby Bull on the other side of the river looks cool. 

Two places I like to eat not sure where to put them: Rocky’s Hot Chicken. Several locations. White Duck Taco several locations.

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Grandfather Mountain Hike

We Torgs used a day off from school (thank you for your service, Veterans!) to drive east and hike at Grandfather Mountain near Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Upon our arrival, we were told the top of the mountain, where the swinging bridge and most of the trails are located, was closed due to high winds. Warning to anyone who is interested in going: it’s $20 per adult and $9 for kids to be admitted to the park. Also of note: you can park on the Blue Ridge Parkway and hike in if you’re up for it. That’s what I’ll do as soon as our kids can handle the hike. We were admitted for half price since the top of the mountain was closed.

After about an hour inside the park, the top was opened. Here are some pictures and video from our visit:

DCIM100GOPROG0022096.
the bridge at Grandfather Mountain

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it was still windy on the bridge

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ladders were fun and scary

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a video from the ladders

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Grandfather Mountain, hiking, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
My wife Megan started to get nervous here.

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Grandfather Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boone, North Carolina, Hiking, Blue Ridge Parkway
We did it!

Lover’s Leap and Paint Rock: Views of the French Broad River from Up on High

As a part of work I’m doing on a film about the French Broad River, I drove north from Asheville to Hot Springs so that I could shoot some video of the river from Paint Rock and Lover’s Leap.

Paint Rock is about seven miles north of Hot Springs on River Road. Heading north on Highway 25 into Hot Springs, I took a right onto River Road right before the bridge. It’s a pretty cool road in that it is narrow, changes to gravel, and stays very close to the water. I had to stop once because there were a bunch of wild turkeys in the road.

River Road, Hot Springs, North Carolina, Appalachian Trail, AT
River Road near Hot Springs

I made a mistake that got me about 40 minutes of extra exercise. I wanted to stand on the cliffs and take a picture of the river and so I looked up the Paint Rock Trail online before I left. I read that I should go 1/10 of a mile on Forest Road 54 and look for the trail. I found it easy enough and began to hike. It was a hot day for November, in the upper 80’s. The trail was very steep and kept me at least 30 yards from the edge of where I thought the cliffs might be. The underbrush was thick and I was a little worried about scrambling through the underbrush and falling over the edge down onto the rocks. I thought the trail would come out to an overlook. Eventually, after thirty minutes of hiking practically straight up, I was so high that that I wouldn’t be able to shoot the river with my GoPro.

Paint Rock, North Carolina, French Broad River
from Paint Rock Trail

On the way down, I got off the trail a few times to try and find the overlook I had in mind but didn’t see anything. Once I got off the mountain, I waded around in the area of where Paint Creek flows into the French Broad. I stared up at the cliffs and couldn’t see how I could get out to one of the lookouts. I also realized that even if I could scale one of the cliffs before me, it wouldn’t offer much of a view of the river as much as the adjacent mountain.

I started to walk on River Road back toward Hot Springs and the direction I’d come. It was then I noticed a very steep trail that went up to a ledge that looked out on the river. I’d done a tough 40 minute hike when a little five minute scramble would have done the job.

I took some pictures and shot the video I needed, and so with plenty of time to still get back to Lover’s Leap, I didn’t mind the extra workout.

French Broad River, Paint Rock
video footage from here will make our French Broad River movie

 

In Hot Springs, you access the Appalachian Trail to Lover’s Leap across the bridge from town. If you’re headed north into Hot Springs, you need to take a right before you can drive under Highway 25 and park at the Nantahala Outdoor Center parking lot. The AT goes right past the parking lot. I’m 90% sure that the rapid pictured below is called Surprise. We went over this with Blue Heron Whitewater when we did Section 9 of the French Broad River with them. The water level is wayyyy down from when I was last in Hot Springs.

surprise rapid, Hot Springs, North Carolina
Surprise Rapid

I walked along the river upstream to follow the white blazed AT. There are many switchbacks to get to the top.

Hot Springs, NC, resort, AT, French Broad River
Hot Springs Resort from Lover’s Leap

I was excited to meet a solo AT hiker. He told me he was doing half of the trail this year and the other half next year. He’d started earlier in the summer from Harpers Ferry, WV.The guy had covered over 20 miles on the day we met and over 400 miles for the summer. I told him my family and I had gone up there to buy a used raft.

img_6917
from the bridge in Hot Springs

 

Click here to find the Facebook page for our French Broad River movie

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Write me with questions or suggestions: William.Torgerson @ gmail.com

Thanks for being interested in what we are up to at Torg Stories!

 

 

1,000 Miles for a Used Raft: Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

The French Broad River runs right through where we live in Asheville, North Carolina and everywhere you go there are kayaks perched on top of automobiles. With daughters the ages seven and ten, my wife Megan and I thought we’d enjoy either tandem kayaks or maybe a raft. The typical tandem kayak in town went for around $800 and rafts like what I thought we’d need ranged from $2,500 to over $5,000.  Not knowing if we’d actually enjoy our time on the river (would it be too slow? too much of a hassle to get the boat in and out of the water and cars arranged at the appropriate geographical points) I thought I’d see if I could find anything used. There was almost nothing for sale. I took this to be a good sign. People were buying kayaks and rafts and liking them enough that they weren’t for sale. Check Craigslist for exercise equipment and a different story is told.

“I like the idea of us being together,” my wife Megan had said. And so we decided on a raft for the whole family and the best deal on a used one I could find was in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. This is about 470 miles from where we live. I’d vaguely heard of the town as one where the Appalachian Trail passed through.

Would I really drive seven hours each way for a used raft?

Turns out, I was willing to drive even farther than that. First I thought if we added The Skyline Drive in Virginia and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, we could make a family trip out of it. Megan said she and her parents used to go on such trips as vacation. Now we wouldn’t be so crazy, going so far for a used raft. We were going on vacation!

The plan evolved and we decided we would also buy a tent and do our first camping as a family. Why not take our dog Indy too?  The following pictures show a little of how our pilgrimage went:

 

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry
loaded up and ready for take off

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry, River Riders
destination #1: the nice folks at River Riders in Harper’s Ferry

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry, River Riders
phase one of mission completed, raft purchased

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry
ready for picnic dinner on the Skyline Drive

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Not long after dinner, we saw our first bear. Actually we saw three of them, a mother and two cubs who’d climbed up a tree. We saw this from The Skyline Drive. There were several cars pulled off to the side of the road, and probably ten or so people pointing up into the trees. At this point, my youngest started keeping track of the wildlife we spotted.

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry, wildlife, snakes, bears, deer, turkeys
My Youngest Kept Track of Our Wildlife Sightings

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Not long after the first bear sighting, I hit one with our van. I was driving around a corner, my sight impaired from the sunset, when I could just make out a bear when it was only a few feet from our bumper. I hit the brakes and gently turned away from the bear as it rammed the front left of our car. With no shoulder to pull onto and because we were on a curve, we didn’t stop right away. The bear was not visible in the rearview mirror or the side mirrors. Looking back, it seemed to be gone, having run off into the woods. We stopped at the next pull off and inspected the car. There was a small scratch and the bumper was covered with bear slobber.

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry
Our campsite at The Meadows on the Skyline Drive

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry, Bears
the first bears we saw

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Torgerson, Asheville, Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Harper's Ferry
deer near our campsite

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Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Appalachian Trail, River Riders
Now which way are the falls?

 

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Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Appalachian Trail, River Riders
We made it!

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Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Appalachian Trail, River Riders, Peaks of Otter
another good dinner spot: at Peaks of Otter Lodge off the Blue Ridge Parkway

Coming Soon:

Reports from our raft on The French Broad River