Old North Carolina 105
Discover the Grand Canyon of North Carolina, camping, hiking, and overlanding along Old North Carolina 105 in Linville Gorge Wilderness Area.
Category North Carolina
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Overland Expo East 2018
Yes, we went to Overland Expo East. No, we didn't camp or stay the whole week like we did two years ago. For people in the middle of a build, those tickets get expensive and the time is better spent plugging up leaks. Yet, for one day, we waded through shoe-engulfing mud, the likes of which I hadn't seen off the set of Deadwood to talk with fellow wanderers and vendors to inspire the next stages of our build.
Tail of the Dragon
Tail of the Dragon is a biker's dream. We are their nightmare.
Clingmans Dome Observation Tower Hike
The hike to the Clingmans Dome Observation Tower Hike is a short but steep half mile hike with an 311 foot elevation gain. It is an incredibly popular path—old and young stop to catch their breaths at the many benches along the path. While we leaned into the incline and trudged up the steep path even we were huffing and puffing with the high elevation exercise.
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains between North Carolina and Virginia. The parkway was constructed to connect the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The resulting thoroughfare is it the longest road planned as a single unit in the United States and the longest linear park. Most any iconic shot of the Smoky Mountains was taken from along this route.
Biltmore Estate
The Biltmore is the largest privately owned house in the United States. George Washington Vanderbilt II was the grand son of the Commodore of industry, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the youngest of his brothers. While his two older brothers took an active role in managing the family empire of steamships, railroad, and sundry, George focussed on books, art, and intellectual pursuits. Perhaps that is why, upon inheriting $7 million dollars and gaining access to a $5 million trust fund, he decided it was time to construct his own "summer cottage" in North Carolina. Architect Richard Morris Hunt was tapped for the job to bring Vanderbilt's old world fascination to North Carolina with a mansion inspired by French Renaissance Chateaus. Construction began in 1889 and concluded in 1895. The final structure spanned 178,926 square feet of floor space within Vanderbilt's 130,000 acre North Carolina estate.
Overland Expo East 2016
Overlanders are world travelers who glory in the road less traveled. They explore on motorcycles, jeeps, and trucks across gravel, dirt, and mud roads and even into regions barely reached by vehicle. They love the wilderness and bring their homes with them, be it a hammock, tent, or truck bed camper. And every year, there is a gathering for those wanderers who may have rolled into North Carolina to meet and learn at the Overland Expo East 2016.