We went back to Table Rock where, as you might recall, we had spent Day 64 in the rain.
Today it wasn't raining.
In the Linville Gorge Wilderness, the trees were starting to turn, but the weather was bright and almost hot.
I need to look up what this purple flower is:
Also, we saw a lizard:
I took off my bamboo-dress layer in the car and was glad I had done so, because the hike was pretty warm. Later, also in the car, I put it on again and was glad I had done so, because Blowing Rock was chilly once the sun went down. But once again, Camellia did it for me on the trail.
My husband was wearing some kind of polystyrene moisture-wicking thermal shirt, which was still kind of sweat-damp when we sat down to dinner. I was beautifully not sweat-soaked throughout.
Table Rock Summit plaque:
Various views:
Drove behind a student driver for miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Remembering my own student drivers, I can only imagine that kid's frame of mind.
As we drove north, the fall color intensified (and I'm sure the student driver enjoyed every minute of it):
We stopped at Julian Price Lake, which had been drained late in the summer when rain washed out the dam. It's finally looking like itself again:
A good day out, and a good outdoor run for Camellia, in the final ten days of the challenge.
I can report that bamboo is pretty thermal. We were sitting outside at the Blowing Rock Inn and Alehouse, and it was starting to get cold, and I'd left my fleece in the car, half a block away. I was going to walk down to get it, but then I really didn't need to. Wool over bamboo was enough by itself on a coolish but not cold mountain autumn evening.
