The hike is secondary today to the meal afterward. We're hiking Graybeard in Montreat and eating "all you can eat mussels for $15" at Bouchon's in downtown Asheville. We begin at the end of the road in fashionable Montreat, a mountain enclave of old money summer homes. Starting up the West Ridge trail, we pass many homes before leaving the civilized area. The trail is steep and our small group spreads out early on. That is the standard procedure for the entire uphill haul. I am drenched in sweat - no surprise there. We stop at a wonderful rocky cathedral where a trail relocation eliminates a tough rock scramble which Nicole was concerned about most of the way up.
Here is the point at which the West Ridge trail joined the Graybeard trail for the short steep climb to the mountain's top. The top was very pleasant with a nice view.
The hike down was along an easier graded trail. Much of it was a former railroad bed. It was along here I walked with Ruth and had a great time talking about plants, wildflowers and fungi.
And now the main attraction, Bouchon's. It was there weekday special, all you can eat mussels. Monsieur Bouchon told us they had run out of mussels the day before but had just received 240lbs. He expected to go through 170-200 lbs tonight. We consumed 26 of those pounds among the 8 of us. There was a muscadet wine on the menu which pleased David and Nicole as that wine is not normally seen in the US. Nicole conversed with Monsier Bouchon in their native language and learned how he ended up in Asheville from France via Texas.
Dale tells another lie
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