North Carolina Swimming Holes

We had a few days to spend around Asheville, North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains and The Smokey Mountains. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty incredibly breath taking. We weren't sure which parks to go to or what to do, then I found this article: Top 20 NC Mountain Swimming Holes. My eyes grew wide and I thought, "How can I go to all 20 in just 2 days!" I quickly found out that is not possible, mostly because upon getting to the first one, you don't want to leave. 

We settled for 3. 

1 - Sliding Rock (we visited with the Mitchell/Duarte clan back in 2009 when Judah was just a wee little thing). A fantastic 60 foot sloping boulder that splashes you into a 8 foot deep freezing cold pool. Super fun!!! I wished my nephews Kaleb and Jaden were with us. We usually take them to a water park in the summer...this is way better! 

I would not suggest going on July 4th or any other summer holiday. However, we made the best of the crowd and had a blast. 

Kaleb (12) and Jaden (10) the night before Kyle left in June. We only got to spend one evening with them, but we had a blast playing horse and watching Kaleb beat me and Jaden frog jump up to the basket and make it from a equating position!

2 - Skinny Dip Falls (clothing is not optional despite the name) has multiple cascades and pools. The best pool is near the trail/bridge. It is deep enough to jump of the rocks above (5-12 feet high). 

Me jumping off the rock with the beautiful cascading waterfalls in the background. 

This is the panoramic shot I took at one of the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a lovely drive that goes through Virginia and North Carolina. (Mom and Dad Harrill would love it. There are cute towns along the way too!)

3 - Tubing at Deep Creek (we also visited this with the Mitchell/Duarte clan back in 2009). It was just as cold this time and just as fun. The river runs quick enough for a white water thrill and a few water falls (1-3 feet high) in tubes. 

Tubing is one of my favorite activities! Look at the black bullet in the mountains! Woohoo he is strong! (Matheo named our car the black bullet when he was 3 years old)

Now I bet you are thinking, "My goodness Lynea is such a great artist!" I know I am, but I wasn't trying to show off my mad stick figure skills. As some of you know we recently made the brave mover from from flip phones to an iPhone so we would have gps for this trip. The drawing idea came from our dear friend Steve Diaz who was actually trying to cheer me up while he walked Kyle through getting my iPhone out of "recovery mode." Recovery mode means you are about to be super mad, sad, and aggressively annoyed with technology. I did have wonderful photos of all 3 swimming holes...and videos! But my iPhone is currently and will probably forever be "recovering." 

We were able to snap a few real shots with the iPad. 

A photo we were able to snap leaving the Pisgah Forest 

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