Kings Mountain – Lake Wylie – and my first “niner”

Hello….is anyone still out there?????

My apologies for taking so long, but I’ve been very busy with my new job and all.  Yes, it turns out I was hired on by the sign company about three weeks ago or so and have been busy training, studying, and trying to get a handle on things since then.  The jury is still out as to whether or not this is something that’s going to work for me, though the folks sure are nice.  Turns out the reality of it is quite a bit different from the picture that was painted for me those many months ago.  Surprise!  We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been camped on the shores of Lake Wylie for over three weeks now at a State Park called Ebenezer Park.  Just lovely.  For only $15 a night, I get a large, wooded site with full hook ups including wi-fi.  For those of you not in the know, this is a bargain and a half!  The campground is actually in South Carolina, just over the border from NC and is about an hour drive from the office in Charlotte (which I only have to go to once a week).   Like many lakes in this neck of the woods, Lake Wylie is long and skinny with lots of arms shooting off from the main body.  The average depth is only 21ft and this summer, I bet it’s a fair bit shallower than that due to the lack of rain.  There is a spot just off shore from where I often sit to read or study and I crack up at the number of boats who constantly run aground there as evidenced below.

In addition to the many Canadian Geese who make their home here, I’ve seen several Blue Heron and a long-legged white bird which I figure to be an Egret.  Check out the Heron below during his morning fishing expedition.

Look closely.  He caught himself a fish.

This past weekend I took some time to visit Kings Mountain, NC, which is a National Military Park so designated for its significance during the Revolutionary War.  It seems a battle was fought atop Kings Mountain between the Patriots and the Loyalists that turned the tide of the War, which had been in a stalemate at that point.  What an interesting day.  There is a 25 minute movie and a museum, which can be followed by a mile and a half interpretive walk through the woods, around and up the mountain/battlefield itself.  Misty, Mosely, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

There are two monuments on top of the quarter-mile long ridge where the battle came to a climax with the Patriots finally making the ridge and pinning the Loyalists in a crossfire.  The first, pictured below, was erected by the descendents of those who fought and the second one, strongly resembling the National Monument in DC, was erected by the US government to commemorate the battle.

Monument number 2

In addition to Kings Mountain, I climbed Nan’s Mountain as well.  Back in the day, there was an iron ore pit mine here as well as another Revolutionary War battle, albeit a far less significant one.  This was my first “niner” and I’ll have you know, I climbed it solo and without the aid of oxygen.  The elevation at the summit was a whopping 976ft, hence the “niner” designation.  Phew!  That was a tough one, but I made it all the way up the gravel road to the top.

Stay tuned.  My sister and I are heading up to Stone Mountain State Park in the northern NC mountains on Friday for a long weekend and I’m sure I’ll have some fun stories and photos to post as a result.