After a wonderful Christmas in Williamsburg, we packed up the car, and hit the road again. The next stop on our road trip was a tiny cabin in Pisgah National Forest near Balsam Grove, NC. We were sad to leave our cozy apartment, so we got a late start. That coupled with the a 7.5 hour drive meant that we were going to arrive well after dark. And thank goodness we remembered to download google maps because there was absolutely zero signal near our cabin. We would have been stuck on windy mountain roads all night!

The cabin we stayed at was tiny, but it was exactly what we were looking for. It had a queen size bed, a heater, a small refrigerator, and a couple of shelves to organize our stuff. Most importantly though, it had a deck overlooking a river and absolutely zero cell signal. The perfect escape! We spent the next 3 mornings drinking coffee in the sunshine with the roar of the river in the background and the next 3 nights roasting marshmallows over a fire.

As much as I would have enjoyed spending several days lazing about the cabin doing absolutely nothing, we had some epic hikes planned in Pisgah National Forest. The first was Looking Glass Rock. We had directions saved on our phone, but our camp host encouraged us to use the back roads instead. It would be much faster, and he assured us that our Forrester could easily handle the drive. And that thankfully turned out to be true. The car did a fantastic job on roads that looked like little more than hiking trails. But the drive was terrifying for someone used to the wide flat roads of Florida. I prayed the entire time that I wouldn’t encounter a car coming from the other direction. Yeah… I’m probably being overly dramatic, but parts of the drive really were pretty intimidating.

We finally made it to the trailhead, and it felt to get out and stretch our legs. Looking Glass Rock here we come!

The first part of the trail provided a peaceful hiking through the woods. It seemed like a never ending uphill hike, but the views were pretty, the air was crisp, and we barely saw anyone else. Roughly 1/2 or 3/4 of the way to Looking Glass Rock, the trail became more difficult. Not because it was too steep or anything but because the area had a recent snowfall the was now melting and the path had become a river of mud. Neither of us remembered to bring hiking boots on the trip so we inched our way along trying not to completely soak our sneakers in the cold mud.

It was completely worth it though. We were soon greeted with an absolutely breathtaking view of the Pisgah National Forest. There were mountain views in every direction, birds were chirping on trees, the sun was shining, and melting ice was forming mesmerizing tiny streams flowing down the rock.

We stayed at Looking Glass Rock for way too long soaking it all, and then we had to hurry back down the trail to get to the car before dark. I knew we wouldn’t make it back to our cabin before it came pitch black, so there was absolutely no way that I was driving back the way we came. Instead I took the long way back. It might have doubled our driving time but at least the roads were paved and there were guard rails!

Once we got back to the cabin, we ended the night with a campfire. It was a perfect way to end our day. Staring into the mesmerizing flames and listening to the rush of the river nearby. So different from the fireplace at our cozy apartment in Williamsburg but just as warming, peaceful, and relaxing.