Over the 4th of July in 1999 we had the pleasure of attending my Mother-in-law's family reunion in Asheville, North Carolina. As an added adventure, I decided to attempt to climb Mount Mitchell early in the morning in order to watch the sunrise from the summit. Mount Mitchell, of course, is the highest mountain in the east. The rangers informed me that although the gates did not open until 8 AM, I could park at the gate and walk the two miles to the summit any time I wanted to.

At the reunion I cast about to see who would be silly enough to accompany "Crazy old Uncle Dan" on an early morning adventure. Since the response was somewhat less than encouraging, I decided that maybe early enough to beat the crowds would be adequate adventure. Two nieces, my two kids and wife all loaded onto the rental car about 7:30 and set of to seek the unknown. After a stop for gas and Handi-Mart pastries washed down with gatorade, we proceeded to go the wrong way and become far more lost than you might expect. After visiting Possum Hollow and the Deliverance Theme Park, we got our bearings and went back to Asheville and started over.

After a longish drive, some bad jokes and two tall tales we were there. There weren't many people and the weather was great. We were back in Asheville in time for lunch after our only casualty...one member of the party fell victim to altitude sickness.

The kids set off from the parking lot. You gotta click on the picture Uncle Will!

Finding "Big Butt" with the locator map.

The traditional shout of "Terra Haute!" from the summit.

A terrain overview of Mount Mitchell. The view is from the West and Mount Mitchell is the high point near the upper right corner. The area shown is the USGS 7.5 min. quad "Mount Mitchell"

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