[schrocat]

Packing the car and hitting the road in 3 weeks to visit relatives...any must see Reef stuff near Charlotte?

Thanks!

[Salty Dog]

Fintastic.........cool store, not that big but nice stuff and staff when I was there.

[chromis]

Salty dog, do you know any fish stores in the Durham/ Raliegh area? My sister is down at Duke and I visit her frequently.


Thanks
Andrew

[Salty Dog]

Sorry...........don't know that area at all

[Ltspd]

Schrocat, if you get close to Asheville look me up will drink a brew!

[schrocat]

Ltspd,
Better check that caller id dude...
Don't be surprised!

I've been begging my wife to go to that Vanderbilt double-wide for YEARS! We will do our darndest to get there this trip.

[Ltspd]

You know I try to stay outa that hood

I understand they going for a local theme and putting some cars on blocks in the front lawn and adding a old toilet or 2 to the porch.

[schrocat]

Awesome!!
Going native!
Americas Castle can always use two more thrones!

[Ltspd]

If you get this way another great place is the Grove Park Inn. Well worth atleast a trip through the main hotel itself.

http://www.groveparkinn.com:8080/

The parkway is also very nice, going either N or S on it will take you to Mt Mitchell or Mt Pisgah

http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/momi.html
http://www.main.nc.us/naturenotebook.../mtpisgah.html

I attached a shot from Pisgah

[Aragorn]

Heck! You guys call those mountains?

[Ltspd]

Not bad, but where are the trees?

[Aragorn]

Ltspd,

Actually that's a nice pic. I've always wanted to check out some of the parks on the east coast. The pic I posted is of Mt Tallac, elevation 9735ft. It's base is about 5 miles(as the crow flies) from our house.

[chromis]

hey aragorn, did you see any of the people filming "planet of the apes"? Im pretty sure they were in your neighborhood

[Aragorn]

Chromis,

You know...now that you mention it, there was a film crew up here at Caples Lake over by Kirkwood last summer. Went by it everyday on my way to work. They had some sort of "space agey" contraption on the set too. I'm not sure whether it was for Planet of the Apes. I'm going to see the movie though. Interesting. I'll let you know.

[Ltspd]

Argon, cool. Mitchell is the higest peak on this side of the Mississippi at 6400ft. (I think its the highest). Asheville lays around 2000ft elevation. Mitchell is about 35-40 miles from me on the parkway.

Are there roads to the top of the peaks out there? I am always looking for good places to cycle, and they always seem to involve climbing

I hope to get to Europe one day and ride some of the routes of the Giro De Itaila and the Tour De France. Which are the most famous climbs due to the tours.

Not sure if anyone follows the "tour" going on now but Lance Armstrong slapped his competition around ascending Alp Du Heaus yesterday. If you get the chance to see yesterday stage its a good one to watch.

[Aragorn]

Ltspd,

Most of the significant peaks in the basin are way above timberline and highly exposed(9000-13000 feet...thin air). No roads to the top of any of them. Just south of us however, in the Owens Valley, lies the White Mountains. Anyway, White Mountain itself is the 5th highest mountain in the lower 48. There is in fact a road to the top. It's peak is just a hair over 14,000 feet. I've always wanted to drive to the top. These mountains host the oldest living organism on the face of the earth, The Bristlecone Pine(over 5000 years old!!!).

Anyway, we just had a bike race here this last weekend...The Death Ride. Something like 100+ miles long, and over 3 mountain passes...Ebbetts Pass(8,700ft), Monitor Pass(8,300ft), and Carson Pass(8,500ft). How's that for a bike ride? . If you're interested, here's the link:
http://www.deathride.com/coursemap.html

http://www.deathride.com/index.html

[cod]

Check out Hi-Tide in Pineville. Call before you go, They keep odd hrs.

[Ltspd]

Aragon, Nice route maps. Those are the type of rides I enjoy. Riding seems to be similar except you start at a higher elevation. The cumulitive climb is about the same as riding these mtns on this end of the US. I did notice that the grades seem to be stiffer than here, these roads must go in a more straight line direction than the zig zags here.

The big ride on this end of the US is the Assault on Mt Mitchell. This is a 102 mi ride that leaves spartanburg SC and travels to the top of Mitchell. Cumulitive climbing is a little over 12000 ft to the top. This ride draws around 1500 people with only the first 800 allowed to go to the top. The remaining stop in Marion, NC, or 70 miles in @ 4000 ft of climb. I havent done this ride in a few years due to the hassles involved in registration. This ride is so popular that the staging club sends out the ride registrations stagered so that everyone recieves theirs the same day. The first 800 to register get a ticket to the top. This fills up within 3 days. They wont accept fedex's, overnights, etc, only USPS regualr mail.

I hope to one day get to that end of the US to ride.

[schrocat]

Ltspd,

Is there a reef store at the summit of Mitchell?



Cod...Where is Pineville?

later,

Schrocat

[Ltspd]

Originally posted by schrocat
Ltspd,

Is there a reef store at the summit of Mitchell?

No, but there is a resturant 1/2 way up that serves fish sandwiches.


Sorta got off subject huh........