BLOWING ROCK 361 
ing Rock, which invitation you gladly accept, there- 
by getting one of the most enjoyable walks of the 
summer, your little guide telling you all the way 
about the flowers and the birds, and stopping under 
an overhanging cliff with great secrecy to show you 
a round little bird's nest with eggs in it cleverly 
hidden in the moss. One suspects it was the chance 
to show this treasure that led the child to propose 
the long climb to the top of the mountain. The 
gooseberries of Hanging Rock are without prickles, 
perhaps because the wild currants growing there 
have stolen them. Imagine prickly currants ! There 
is plenty of galax on Hanging Rock, and mosses and 
sedums and all the other growths that make moun- 
tain-tops so agreeable. The top of Hanging Rock is 
a slanting ledge, from which the mountain gets its 
name. At Banner Elk you will want to stay awhile, 
it is so pretty, and you will also want to climb the 
beautiful Beech Mountain with its grassy spaces 
and its charming beech groves. 
From Banner Elk you take the short walk over to 
" Galloways," close under the shadow of the Grand- 
father, and from here the long and beautiful walk 
down the Watauga River at the base of the Grand- 
father, then along the ridges back to Blowing Rock, 
watching as you go details of the mountain beneath 
whose northern front you are passing. The open 
benches, the rocky bluffs, and abrupt, tree-clad walls, 
of this side of the mountain, which we call the back 
of the Grandfather, are not impressive like those 
long southern slopes sweeping from a summit of a 
