Lake James

We visited Lake James over a long weekend to spend some time in the Great Outdoors.  The Catawba river ran behind our cabin, so we were able to swim and fish in the river without getting in the car.  We also hiked to the top of Sitting Bear mountain, elevation 4000 feet!  It was a very steep climb; the first strenuous hike we've ever tried with the children.   They did great!  It was hard, and there were times the path was not very clear, so we had growing things touching our legs.  This freaked all of us out a bit (spiders, snakes, other critters...), but especially Kathryn.  She did tell me she was proud of herself for sticking it out until we got to the top.  I am very proud of Julian and Kathryn (and Jason and myself too!).  That was my favorite hike so far.  I can't wait to get back out and try another trail once it cools off a bit.  Hiking is just not as fun when it's 100 degrees.

Our cabin was converted from a one room mountain cabin.  The former exterior wall is now an interior wall to the living room.  Of course Julian decided he needed to climb it (and Kathryn followed his lead).

The beginning of our hike on Sitting Bear mountain:

We made it to the top!  This is looking down the length of the Gorge, but of course it was hazy, so nothing can be seen clearly.  At the time, we could see the shimmer of Lake James in the far distance, but it didn't show on the photo.

Back at the cabin, we lit a fire and cooked hot dogs and s'mores.  And the kids just played in the fire.  Something strange happened when we were sitting around the fire after dark though - hundreds of toads came out of...somewhere...and everywhere we stepped they were there.  It was creepy; it felt like the beginning of some kind of horror movie!

We visited Linville Caverns as well, although the kids had already been there once before.  It was fascinating!  I took a lot of pictures from inside the caverns, but will not post them since I'm sure they are not as cool without the tour guide explaining what each formation is. But anyway, my beautiful family!

Then back home for fishing.  Kathryn was a natural!  She cast like a pro and waited for a bite.  Julian was OK, but he just does not have the patience for fishing.  He told me he did not like it because he couldn't catch anything.  Well, none of us was catching anything until the very end, but Julian kept reeling in and casting again and again.  He didn't leave his line in the water long enough for a fish to try it out!  We will try again, but I'm not sure Julian appreciates that fishing is a lot of waiting...and waiting...and waiting (and bug bites while you're waiting).  It was challenging to fish in a river.  It was shallow in most places and the current pulled the line away from the spots we wanted our hooks to stay.  But it was fun anyway.  MOST of us enjoyed every minute of it. 

Jason's catch!

And mine...mine was bigger!  ;-)

This will definitely be an annual event for our family, however, we will not be staying in the same cabin.  The owners are very eco conscious and don't like exterminating.  The house was COVERED in ants.  We couldn't sit food down anywhere for more than a few seconds before hundreds of ants were on the dish.  Yuck.  We decided we would just look at this as camping with nice soft beds and air conditioning at the end of the day.