Leaving Boone on Monday morning we headed back out towards the Blue Ridge Parkway, hoping to get some hiking in before the forecasted rain moved in. With most of the leaves gone now, the Parkway looks desolate and barren - almost post-apocalyptic. We managed a short self guided nature walk to Flat Rock and a longer 1.5 mile hike to the Linville Falls before the cloud started to move in. After a short stop for a picnic lunch, we had just got back in the car when the rain hit.

The original intention had been to drive all the way to Asheville on the Parkway but the as the rain got heavier and we got higher, the clouds got lower and thicker and darker. The road almost disappeared over the edge of the ravine in the cloud and it was a pretty scary drive. As if that wasn't bad enough, the Parkway was closed at one point (we later found out this was due to a mud slide) and we had to return 11 miles down the mountain on dark, cloudy, wet, windy roads!!! We gave up at this point and hit the main road.

As rain had been forecast for a couple of days, we had pre booked a trip to the Biltmore Estate for Tuesday (yesterday). Biltmore House is home to the Vanderbilt family - on Christmas Eve 1895 George Vanderbilt officially opened the House to family and friends. After his death in 1914 his wife and daughter continued to manage the estate and it is still a family owned business today (it was opened to the public in 1930). Only a small amount of the original 125,000 acres remain but it still takes 30 mins to drive from the main entrance to the parking areas. We took a self guided audio tour of 45 of the 250 rooms (including 43 bathrooms, a 10 foot deep swimming pool and bowling alley!!). Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the house. We went back to the house last night for a special Christmas candlelight tour. The estate also includes a winery, although only 15% of the grapes used are grown here. Our entrance ticket included a free tour and wine tasting. There was no limit on the number of wines you could try and the sample sizes were quite generous (hic!!)

Today we have woken up to blue skies and fluffy clouds (light rain is forecast) so we are off after breakfast to attempt Chimney Rock - a 535 million year old towering monolith. Luckily a 26 storey elevator has been built inside the rock so I don't have to climb all of it!!!

OK so we did Chimney Rock - and can I just say WE CLIMBED IT!! We did not use the elevator (special note to my brother!!!) . Ant decided we would do Chimney Rock first and not one of the easier nature walks as a warm up. This is 0.5 mile straight up via a series of granite steps and wooden staircases - Imagine being on the Stairmaster for 30 minutes at about level 8 - quads and calves are screaming, heart is pounding - this goes some way to explainin the agony we were in!! . The rock itself is at an elevation of 2,280 feet but we carried on climbing to Exclamation Point at an elevation of 2,480 feet, although the day was clear and sunny, the wind was fierce and cold up here.

After this we did the gentler 1.5 mile Hickory Nut Falls trail to a waterfall and then went back to the hotel and collapsed!!!

Thursday saw us leaving Asheville (and North Carolina) and heading west (and slightly north) to Tennessee. We decided to take the slightly longer more scenic route through the Smoky Mountains National Park where we encountered ice and a little snow at the highest elevation which also happens to be the border between the 2 states. The night was spent in Chattanooga (yes is the Chattanooga of Choo Choo fame).