Twelve Mile Circle faced a bit of a geographic dilemma in western North Carolina. An issue began to appear towards the end of the week. Indeed, I might risk a doughnut hole county if I wasn’t careful. That condition would occur if I counted a bunch of contiguous counties and then left one in the middle uncovered. I’d hate to do that. Realistically, I may not have an opportunity to come back again and clean it up. I’m not getting any younger.
That’s when I decided that I couldn’t leave Rutherford County unvisited even if its local seat of government had the unwieldy name of Rutherfordton. Sure, I understood the need to honor Griffith Rutherford. After all he served as brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War. Even so, couldn’t they have at least named to town Rutherford or even Griffith?
Nonetheless I now needed to contrive a reason to venture across the border into Rutherford with the family. Bottom line, I could not leave an unsightly doughnut hole on my county counting map.
There appeared to be a nice park and a lake about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Asheville. Maybe that would do the trick. Actually it worked out quite nicely, both because it satisfied my ulterior motive and because it was a genuinely enjoyable spot.
Lake Lure
The body of water turned out to be Lake Lure (map). And a town of the same name hugged its shores. Lake Lure was an artificial creation of the Morse family. They dammed the Broad River within a particularly scenic Blue Ridge valley in the 1920’s, creating a roadside tourist attraction that still remains popular. The Town of Lake Lure purchased the lake in the 1960’s. Then they turned it into a public park, including the attractive man-made beach.
It was a great spot for the kids. They enjoyed the beach and playing at the adjacent water park. Later that morning we rented paddle boats and circled the lake a couple of times. However the sun and humidity drove me back to a shaded shoreline before too long. Then we finished the morning with lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake.
Chimney Rock
We devoted the afternoon to Chimney Rock (map), another attraction on the northwestern nub of Rutherford County. The Morse family must have had an entrepreneurial streak. Logically, they also turned Chimney Rock into a tourist destination at the turn of the last century. Otherwise the outcrop probably would have been just another granite pinnacle. They saw its appeal and went so far as to bore an elevator shaft through the cliff nearby so visitors could reach the promontory almost effortlessly.
Then the state of North Carolina purchased the property in 2007. Thus Chimney Rock State Park became one of the state’s newest additions. Along with the 315 foot (96 metre) spire itself, the park offered miles of hiking trails and a magnificent waterfall.
Exclamation Point!
Unfortunately the park closed the elevator for repairs during our visit. So we had to climb the switchback stairways up to Chimney Rock. That wasn’t as bad as it sounded. There were plenty of intermediary ledges that offered increasingly better views of the valley far below so it broke-up the climb into manageable chunks. My younger son and I decided to climb even higher while the rest of the family stopped at the snack bar for ice cream. I’d spotted a promising promontory listed in the trail guide. Naturally it drew me in with its exiting name — Exclamation Point!
I was in pretty good shape, having completed the Great Allegheny Passage bicycle trail recently. I had no problem climbing several hundred steps. My son had abundant childhood energy so we practically flew up the mountain. We left most of the other visitors in the dust as we climbed up to Exclamation Point at 2,480 ft. (756 m.). We also overheard two sweaty and exhausted teenagers commiserating with their friend on the summit. They’d been passed by “an old man and a kid.” That was us! Maybe their embarrassment will encourage them to put down the Cheetos and get off the couch every once and awhile. Yes, I felt smug. I admit it.
Another Exclamation Point
Exclamation Point was such an awesome name. I had to see if anyone else had ever used it before. Actually, the U.S. Geological Survey listed only one Explanation Point in its Geographic Names Information System, and it wasn’t even the one in North Carolina. Apparently the Explanation Point near Chimney Rock was an unofficial designation. The only Explanation Point recognized by the USGS fell within in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Montrose County, Colorado. Hikers can experience this outcrop by taking a moderate route on the North Rim of the park, three miles round trip on the North Vista Trail.
It looks like I found another spot to put on my list to visit someday.
Leave a Reply