Still Enjoying Asheville

 The campground at Lake Powhatan had 'Bear Alert' posters everywhere. We did not see one until Wednesday morning. The dumpster was located near our site and early that morning, I thought someone was dumping trash, but lo and behold, it was a bear trying to see what was in our grill! He knocked it off the table, looked at it trying to figure it out, and then left when I tried to get a picture through Sol's window! Other than that, we didn't see much wildlife.

Thursday Bob and I hiked a trail near the campground. The trail is multi-use and there were quite a few mountain bikers also enjoying the trail. I did spot this snail munching on a leaf as we hike through the forest.

 There were several bridges to cross the streams meandering through the forest. These were much sturdier than the ones we traversed at Twin Falls!

 Even without handrails, they weren't scary!

 After a shower and a trip to Sam's we decided to try Highlands Brewing Company. It was an interesting place and yes, we got the sign!

Friday we spent hiking another trail near our campground, this one was in the park. It was also multi-use and we had to watch for bicycles. It was an enjoyable hike, and no, we didn't take many pictures.

Saturday, it was time for more waterfalls! We drove southeast of Brevard to DuPont State Forest. There we hiked to Bridal Veil Falls and High Falls. Once again, the trails were multi-use and the bikers were out to enjoy the day, also.

The trail to Bridal Veil Falls was a gravel road for most of the way. On the way to the falls, we crossed a bridge over Lake Julia Spillway.

 From the observation deck just before the falls, you can see the falls come over a large rock and then 'slide' down a large granite rock.

Once you are on the rocks near the falls, you cannot see the water coming over the ridge, just the water on the large granite rock.

We wanted to get closer and that we did. We found a way around the falls to the left side and were able to walk to the main falls. The main falls was used in two movies---The Hunger Games and Last of the Mohicans. Scenes were shot showing the back of the waterfall where people could walk under it. From our approach, there was no way to get behind the falls (and stay dry!).

We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the falls before we started our hike back to the visitor center parking area.

On our way back, we took the side trail to Lake Julia.

 Then we decided that it was a long drive to DuPont State Forest so we might as well check out High Falls. I think it was the most popular falls in the area. Those are people sliding down the rocks and enjoying the cool pools at the bottom of the falls!

 High Falls was worth the extra hike!

 After a morning of hiking, it was time for lunch and a brew. The first brewery where we stopped didn't serve food. Brevard Brewing Co. was a small brewery in downtown Brevard. They had several interesting brews, but we were hungry!

 Our next stop was off the beaten path at Oskar Blues Brewery. They also have a brewery in Colorado.

 Nothing on their menu interested us so after completing most of our shared flight (Bob nor I liked their wheat beer), we headed back to Sol to cook something on the grill.

Sunday we did more hiking from our campsite. We found the back gate to the Arboretum and the trails in the Arboretum. It was an enjoyable day of hiking and probably one of our last on this visit to Asheville due to predicted rain for Monday and Tuesday. As a treat after our hike, we had lunch at Thirsty Monk.  We made it back to Sol just before the rain started.

Since Monday was a rain day, we did that wonderful chore of laundry.

Tuesday, another rain day, we went to downtown Asheville. We enjoyed walking around the shops and I was interested in going through the pinball museum which didn't open until after noon. After looking at all the interesting shops we stopped in Lexington Avenue Brew Pub and had a soft pretzel.

Then it was time to check out the pinball museum. Unfortunately, it is closed on Tuesday, not Monday as we originally thought....oh, well, maybe next trip.

Since Asheville is 'Beer City USA' we decided to stop at two more breweries in the downtown area--Bhramari and Wicked Weed.  Bhramari was the smaller of the two and had a lot to offer. In addition to its beers, it had local grown food specialties.

Time to head back to Sol before the traffic got worse.

Wednesday was another hiking day, this time on Hard Times Trail and Owl Ridge in the Arboretum. Our time in Asheville was drawing to a close and we were headed north into Virginia.