Grandfather Mountain

On Saturday I went on a trip to Grandfather Mountain with a group from Our State Magazine.  There was a whole day of fun activities planned, including "behind the scenes with the animals" and a guided hike.

Cougar.  She was so sweet, you could hear her purring.

Kodiak. A cinnamon colored Black Bear. The bears are trained to put certain body parts up to the fence in case they ever need medical attention. His treat was apple slices. He was so cute!

 Black Bear

 They even have a butterfly garden!  Painted Lady.

Does.

Barred Owl

Screech Owl

Screech Owl - All 3 of the owls were hit by cars and now they cannot fly.

Forrest Gump Curve.  From the movie, which I did not know.  It's from when he runs across the country.  There is no walking allowed on the roads, so I took this from our shuttle bus, and couldn't get the actual curve or the mountains beyond in the picture. Now I want to watch the movie again!

This was taken from the Mile High Swinging Bridge.  Which does not swing anymore (the old one was wooden, and the new one is steel), but it does move!  It's a little scary.  I did not get a picture of the bridge because it started raining (again - also rained on our hike).  At least I got the rainbow!