Grandfather Mountain via Profile Trail - Grandfather Mountain State Park, NC

A difficult, exciting, exhilarating, rocky, tiring, fun hike on my 30th birthday at one of my favorite places in North Carolina, Grandfather Mountain. I used the steep, rocky Profile Trail to access the crest where I first jaunted up to Calloway Peak, the highest peak on the mountain massif. I also checked out the Watauga View briefly and also dropped down to the airplane crash site. The next part is some of the most exciting ridgeline scrambles anywhere in the Southeast as the trail follows bare rock cliffs, heath and krummholz on its way over the magnificent summits of Attic Window Peak and MacRae Peak. The swinging bridge and Linville Peak are kind of a let down, mainly because of the crowds, but at least you get to return the same way! It took a little over 8 hours to hike 11.4 miles. I stopped a lot but it is difficult and has given me a bout of plantar fasciitis in the days after. Hike location https://goo.gl/maps/xej9G3FxqqYFgKzk6 Hike report http://www.hikingupward.com/NCSP/GrandfatherMountainProfileTrail/

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