the frozen palmetto

With an icicle suspended over the kitchen’s brita, this calendar’s January print seems appropriate. Damn the cardboard trailer! Hot as hell in the summer, frozen pipes in the winter. Now Friday afternoon is spent lying side by side with the landlord under the sink. It’s a long weekend, and we must get away if we can…

Saturday morning, Lily, Uwharrie and I volunteer at the Swannanoa Splashdown 15K. Adam does a great job getting things organized atop High Windy where we greet runners at the turnaround. The sun is shining and the temperatures are actually climbing into the double digits.

We take route 9 through Bat Cave, under Chimney Rock and around Lake Lure. It’s been a while since I’ve been this way, and it’s going to be a while until I have any interest to return. Development has scarred this place deeply. Audacious palaces are ludicrously perched on Appalachian ledges. All this stands out so sorely in the wintertime.

Tryon is a place I’ve wanted to explore for some time. We park at Sidestreet Pizza and hike south across the state line. We search for the Palmetto Trail in the waning winter daylight. After walking several miles on country roads in vain, we return to Sidestreet and opt to drive to the Blue Wall Preserve.

Trying to conserve as much as possible, I strain the water from the pasta to make tea. As we sit in the tent sipping this warm salty dishwater, I have to smile. Walking the busy road was unnerving, the severe rush and volume of our existence always tears me up inside. We finish gulping down the brackish brew and pull out an icy cold bottle. We pass around what is nothing more and nothing less than clean fresh water. The contrast between the terrible “tea” and this is as staggering as the developed and undeveloped mountains around us.

Elliot and Ashley are kind enough to pick us up the next day on the other end. Below are some pics of our trek. I love being outside with my two girls. Simple pleasures.