Trip Day 4

 My final day in NC would also mark the finish of the fire tower challenge.  I had found some trip reports that mentioned ascents of Yellow mountain from the south.  This would be a lot shorter and a lot less intense than the other ways up.  The trick would be finding where they had parked as some of the roads were private.  I got to Buggy Barn road and then was stymied by a gate. I could see Yellow mountain and figured it was close enough to give it a shot.  The gate was NOT posted, I figured it was just to keep people from driving up the mountain road but it didn't not say anything about running.  I was also about 45 minutes prior to sunrise so a stealthy ascent should work out fine.  I had no issues as the 2 mile climb (1,143') got me to the top about 20 minutes prior to sunrise.  I did not want to wait (and in my haste had not brought my camera) so I was nearly back at the car when the sun came up.

After that I drove to Observation tower at Little Scaly mountain (I had called the week before to get permission) and it was definitely worth the stop with some fantastic views. The view included a look back to Yellow mountain where I'd been earlier.

Then I drove for 5 hours and visited the 4 Freedoms rail trail just over the line in Florida for a pleasant 6m run on the rail trail.  It was a bit of a shock having been in 30 degree temps at 5,000' earlier in the day and closing out the day at 200' and 75 degrees!