I’m still working on the 3,000 ft peaks in SC and this group of four was uneventful, almost…
I drove to a spot they call Pretty Place. It’s a chapel set on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Blue Ridge foothills. Even on an overcast day it was impressive. The mountain next to it was Standing Rock. On the trail about ¼ mile in, I heard some rustling to my side. I stopped and started looking thinking it was a deer. I then heard a sound higher up. A few yards off, about 15’ up in a tree was a black bear staring at me. As soon as I made a move for my camera, it scrambled down the tree showering bark all the way and ran off so quickly I couldn’t get a picture. Never seen a bear in a tree before. It was so cool.
After summiting Standing Rock, I then went to Little Rich Mountain. There was a nice trail, but with not only a No Trespassing sign, but a sign saying No Hikers. I drove around to another side of the mountain and bushwhacked ¾ mile to the summit. Hah, they can take that.
I ended the day summiting Bradford Mountain and Caesar’s Head, the latter having an impressive view. All in all, it was very good except the spider webs across every trail.
Cool bear encounter!