 The
two RV Gypsies were here at Chimney Rock in 2010 and they also hiked
to Hickory Nut Falls at that time. This year in 2018, they found all
the stairs and hiking a bit more strenuous and difficult than they did
in 2010, which was to be expected. They
highly recommend that visitors to this web site look at the 2010 Chimney
Rock page before continuing here, because it has a lot more history
and depth to it, including climbs up many stairs to Inspiration Point
and Devil's Head that they did not climb up in 2018. There is a link
at the bottom of the 2010 page to take you back here so you can continue
the 2018 tour.
|
 |
Before reaching
Chimney Rock, Karen Duquette took a quick photo of Lake Lure, and also
a house with a giant mailbox and a "lady" sitting
up high in a giant chair. |
|
|
|
|
Lee and Karen
Duquette were a bit confused at first, because the parking lot was not
the same parking lot they had parked in on their last visit in 2010.
They discovered that the upper parking lot was closed because part of
the upper parking lot had caved in. In 2010, they drove their car on
a narrow, winding road from the entrance to the upper parking lot. In
2018, shuttle busses took everyone from the lower parking lot to the
upper parking lot. This also affected the entrance to Hickory Nut Falls.
The photo below shows a quick glimpse of part of the upper parking
lot that had caved in. |
|
 |
The
two RV Gypsies had some family members with them this time, Renee and
John Smythers, Alex Jones, and Anthony Rosenthal.
Renee had read online that to reach "The Chimney"
they had to ride the elevator up a 26-story shaft blasted through solid
granite. Anthony was impressed with the cool 198-foot tunnel to the
elevator which stays at a comfortable 55 - 65 degrees year-round. The
elevator went to the top - up 26 stories in 30 seconds. The elevator
operator gave a brief introduction to the Park, the gift shop, and the
snack bar! |
|
|
|
|
|
Lee and Karen Duquette and
family climbed the 44 stairs up to the Chimney Rock and then back down
the 44 stairs. Anthony did not want to climb up the stairs, so family
took turns waiting at the bottom of the stairs with him. The first photo
below was taken before climbing the stairs. |
 |
Below: Alex Jones, the
grandson of Lee and Karen Duquette. |
The daughter and son-in-law of the two
RV Gypsies. |
|
|
Below: Views of Lake Lure
and more from the top of Chimney Rock. |
|
|
Below: Karen Duquette took
a photo looking down at a small part of the stairs leading to Hickory
Nut Falls, then she went down the 44 stairs just before Lee and John. |
 |
 |
Below: A view of the staircase
up to Devil's Head and Inspiration Point where Lee and Karen Duquette
climbed in 2010. (Those photos can be seen on the 2010 Chimney Rock
page via the link above at the beginning of this set of photos). The
Opera Box can barely be seen near the right-hand edge of the big rock
- so Karen Duquette zoomed-in to view people in The Opera Box. |
 |
 |
Then everyone, including Anthony,
climbed 84 stairs up to the Opera Box. Lee Duquette (always the comedian)
let out one long "opera note" which startled everyone. After
all, they WERE IN an "Opera Box". |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Below: Views of Chimney
Rock from The Opera Box |
|
|
Below: Instead of going up
more stairs (which Lee and Karen Duquette did in 2010), everyone went
back down the 84 stairs and went to see the Bat Cave. It was a short
walk into a very small area of the cave. But it was nice and cool inside. |
|
|
 |
Lee and Karen Duquette were
surprised to learn that Anthony's favorite part of visiting NC and SC
was "the big rock". |
If you came here from the
