Before starting up the Grandfather Mountain Trail, I wanted to go across the Mile High Bridge and summit the very minor Linville Peak.
Linville Peak view.
Linville Peak, view toward the parking lot, MacRae Peak in the distance.
Starting along the Grandfather Mountain Trail.
Shortly after starting the Grandfather Mountain Trail, the first section of minor Class 2.
Junction with a bypass of MacRae Peak. I'm not sure why you'd do this though, the most fun part of the hike is going up and over MacRae.
MacRae Peak in the distance.
First views along the Grandfather Mountain Trail.
Beautiful boulders, trail well-marked.
Looking back the way I came toward a minor hump.
Starting the ascent to MacRae Peak.
Cables to aid in ascending the wet slabs.
One of the many ladders along the trail.
Looking back down the ladder.
Another ladder, directly after the previous one.
Looking down that ladder, a nice view behind it.
MacRae above.
Approaching the part of the Grandfather Mountain Trail that had more than one person I passed second-guessing their choices. It's a set of ladders to aid in ascending the rock face.
Second ladder on the multi-ladder climb.
Top of the final ladder, looking down.
Top of the multi-ladder climb, view west toward the trailhead. You can see the road on the farthest bump on the ridge.
More ladders on the way up to MacRae Peak.
After the sets of ladders used to ascend MacRae Peak, the views get pretty spectacular. The trail hugs the cliff edge a fair amount, resulting in a fun and creative route.
Looking back at a section of the Grandfather Mountain Trail that hugs the cliff.
MacRae Peak on the right, Attic Window Peak center, Grandfather Mountain behind that. To access MacRae Peak, a ladder climb is required.
MacRae Peak, view west.
MacRae Peak, view east toward Attic Window Peak.
After coming down from MacRae Peak, descending to the saddle between MacRae and Attic Window. There is a set of cables and a ladder to get down there. Attic Window Peak visible ahead. Of note, the broken boulder face on the left will be the ascent route to the peak.
Looking back at the cable/ladder descent from MacRae Peak.
Passing through a minor talus cave on the way to Attic Window Peak.
Looking back into the talus cave.
Class 2 boulder-hop up the weakness to Attic Window Peak.
Last push to Attic Window Peak.
Looking back down the Class 2 notch leading to Attic Window Peak.
Just after Attic Window Peak's summit, view toward Grandfather Mountain.
The trail continues to hug the cliff face as it continues from Attic Window Peak to Grandfather Mountain.
Looking back along the trail, hugging the cliff.
Looking back up the final Class 2 boulder-hop, which brought me down to the saddle of Attic Window Peak and Grandfather Mountain.
Ascending to Grandfather Mountain, no more fun cliffs or scrambles.
Junction with the Profile Trail at Calloway Gap. Right heads to the summit.
Watauga View to the left is worth checking out. Right heads to Grandfather Mountain.
First ladder along the summit ridge.
View along the summit ridge.
The most difficult of the ladders along the summit ridge.
Grandfather Mountain summit (aka Calloway Peak). I should note that this lookout point isn't the true summit, but the high point was a little farther back, forested and unmemorable.
A close-up toward Attic Window Peak.
Watauga View, a minor detour off the main trail. Worth checking out for the views.
Watauga View.
Looking toward Attic Window Peak from Watauga View.
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