On Christmas morning, we drove about 150 miles to Crowders Mountain near Charlotte so the kids could go rock climbing with their new gear. Unfortunately, the rangers decided to take the day off and thought everyone else should too, so they closed and locked the entrance to the park. We had to turn around and drive another 150 miles back to Penrose. Bummer, five hours lost.

After a short rest, we drove into Pisgah Forest to Looking Glass Rock, in search of rocks to climb (Trevor stayed home to rest).

Here’s the hike in, with Looking Glass in the background.

We got to the wall in about a half hour.

We decided to look for someting a little less daunting.