June 22: outdoor adventure Monday

First week of summer! It has been warmer than usual here in the Smoky Mountains, so we have scaled back our hiking a bit to avoid the heat and the afternoon thunderstorms. Cookie loves hiking, but she is not a warm-weather dog. Today we had a lovely early morning walk around the Western Carolina University campus. The campus is so beautiful, and there are lovely trails throughout the area, so we really don't need to venture too far for an enjoyable outing.

This morning we walked up to the older section of campus, which is the highest part of campus. We started outside Coulter building, and walked through the Cheokee garden, which is full of plants that the Cherokee people used for medicine.

We continued up the hill to Moore Building, which I believe is the oldest building on campus. Outside Moore we found a peach tree full of ripe peaches and this sign:

We climbed further up the hill to the most beautiful sight you'll ever find on a college campus: an empty parking lot!

Once we got to the top of campus, we wandered around a bit. The sun was just coming up, and the view of the surrounding mountains was breathtaking, even though we see it every day.