Two RV Gypsies' photos at Chimney Rock

Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
(and Professional Travelers)

	Chimney Rock Chimney Rock Village, North Carolina
Chimney Rock is a village in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The village takes its name from a large granite outcropping located on a summit above the village itself in Chimney Rock State Park. The village has a total area of 2.8 square miles, all of it land. The town shares a border with the town of Lake Lure.

The GPS in the truck shows how curvy the roads were while driving to Chimney Park. Once inside Chimney Rock Park, the roads were just as curvy.



The easiest way to reach The Chimney is to ride the elevator up a 26-story shaft blasted through solid granite. The cool 198-foot tunnel to the elevator stays a comfortable 55-65 degrees year-round. The elevator goes to the top - up 26 stories in 30 seconds. The elevator operator gives a brief introduction to the Park, the gift shop, and the snack bar!


The two RV Gypsies exit the elevator, walk through the gift shop, and past the snack bar to look down at a view into the parking lot.


Lee checks out the scenery from Lake Lure Lookout


Then it's just a short walk to the stairs up to the Chimney.


The Chimney
The two RV Gypsies climb the stairs to the top of this towering 315-foot monolith located on the very edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains high above beautiful Hickory Nut Gorge.The Chimney is at a soaring elevation of 2,280 feet and has 75-mile views.

Karen Duquette at the top of the stairs to The Chimney and Lee Duquette ready to climb up the stairs.

The two RV Gypsies at the top of The Chimney - elevation 2,280 feet



View of "The Outcroppings" as seen from The Chimney



The stairs leading down from the Chimney and more stairs leading up to the Opera Box


The Opera Box
View of the Opera Box and stairs leading to the Skyline Trail


This splendid viewpoint was formed when a large block of Henderson Augen Gneiss (pronounced "nice") separated along its horizontal foliation plane and fell. Gneiss is the metamorphosed rock that makes up the entire valley including the massive cliffs in the Park. Originally, the Gneiss solidified from a molten magma to form a medium-grained rock. The "layering" or "banding" found here and the large white "augen" (grains of potassium feldspar) occurred in the rock much later during mountain building geologic periods when the rocks experienced elevated temperatures and pressures causing the Gneiss to be altered (metamorphosed).

The term augen is the German word for eye and is used in geology to describe eye- or elliptical-shaped minerals in a rock mass. In the Henderson Gneiss, the augen are composed of microcline. This augen texture is one of the most characteristic features of the Henderson Gneiss which distinguishes it from other rocks that have a similar mineralogical makeup. Some of the augen are quite large and have a shiny surface called a cleavage plane (a plane along which crystals break in accordance with their atomic structure).

Karen is covered by a rock overhang with a narrow horizontal opening that presents panoramic scenes of sky, water and trees while the wind and the birds provide the perfect soundtrack.

The views of Hickory Nut Gorge, The Chimney, the Outcroppings, and Lake Lure from the Opera Box.




Stairs leading up to the Skyline trail.


Devil's Head
At the start of the Skyline trail just above the Chimney, there is a menacing rock face peering out over the Gorge. It’s the Devil’s Head! A long time ago a huge sheet of rock slid down the mountainside and broke into many pieces, one of which came to rest on this ledge. The facial features of the boulder are due to differential weathering of Gneiss. More resistant parts of the rock form the eyebrow, nose, chin and ear, while softer layers have eroded out, shaping the eye and the mouth.






Beautiful trees, butterflies and flowers on the trail



Part of the trail that is not so beautiful - narrow pathways between the numerous sets of stairs.


This point along the Skyline trail is the highest point in Chimney Rock at an elevation of 2,480 feet! It exceeds Chimney Rock’s elevation by 200 feet.



Rainbow Falls can barely be seen in the middle of this photo. It is a 150 foot waterfall in the Western part of North Carolina - Jackson County. Two people fell to their deaths in 2003 from the top of Rainbow Falls. The trail to and from Rainbow Falls can be tricky. The two RV Gypsies did not go to Rainbow Falls.

The rock at Inspiration Point is very uneven. Many people think it is because of water erosion, but in reality, it is due to rock erosion. This particular print looks like a dinosaur foot to many children.


Time to go back down the stairs. The two RV Gypsies counted 355 stairs down. The stairs were NOT all in a row because there were stepping stones and spurts of a dirt trail in between the sets of stairs. That means they climbed 710 stairs today, PLUS the stairs to and from The Chimney.


The long truck of the two RV Gypsies, often extends into the road when parked. It can't be helped.	View of The Chimney from the lower parking lot



The door of the Ladies Room at the upper level gift shop

All the walls, doors, and the ceiling inside the Ladies Room were also painted




And the same goes for the Men's Room

The two RV Gypsies in North Carolina - May 2010 You may visit any of these web pages in any order you wish. The page you are on is greyed out.

Segway tour of Asheville	Dupont State Forest in Cedar Mountain - Hooker Falls

Dupont State Forest in Cedar Mountain - Triple Falls	Dupont State Forest in Cedar Mountain -High Falls &the covered bridge

Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock Village	Hickory Nut Falls

After you have viewed all 6 of the above North Carolina photos, please continue on to South Carolina

1. Valley Park Resort in Travelers Rest, South Carolina
2. Downtown Greenville and some History of the area
3. The Liberty Bridge at Falls Park, Greenville, South Carolina