Very nice! The first time I visited there, I actually wandered in from the Pisgah State Park side, over Bear and Daniels mountain. Didn't even realize there were connector trails all the way through until I came down and saw one of the signs. Never got to see the stairs intact like that unfortunately - they were already partially collapsed.

You're right of course, it's just one of those rare issues where public opinion has probably shifted more than far enough to overcome the age difference in voter turnout. I won't be surprised if whatever eventually makes it to the ballot has enough unfavorable details intentionally written in to make different groups vote against it for opposite reasons.

I don't understand why these people take a job representing the citizens and then just decide not to do that in favor of their personal qualms, but keep up the good work. Go ahead and show us how devastating legalization has been everywhere else if you're going to defend it as a health and safety decision. Surely it's taking lives all over the place like alcohol does.

Maybe that's a factor for some individuals, but for the majority, I would guess it's simply the cost and difficulty of finding someone to take your issues seriously and work with you over time to discover the best course of treatment. It can be a difficult process even in an area with plenty of services available, and sometimes the same issues that lead you to seek help make it that much harder to keep fighting an uphill battle.

For sure! I see one occasionally on the land around my neighborhood, and they're pretty much gone into the forest before I have time to fully register that I'm seeing a bobcat, let alone take a picture. Haven't been lucky enough to capture anything except the tracks in the snow.

Definitely think about what kind of trail (or lack of) appeals to you. You can see from the variety of replies that people have totally different scenarios in mind. You could probably break it down to three: Solidly-packed trails where you can easily hike with just microspikes, moderately-packed trails where a small, light snowshoe is ideal, and fresh powder / off-trail travel, which is a lot more work, but a shoe with more surface area would keep you from sinking in.

Probably too many variables to say for sure when it comes to home ownership. You could come out ahead, or you could have an unexpected $30k expense fall in your lap next year.

You certainly could have bought much smaller and saved yourself a big chunk of tax burden and other expenses if saving money was a priority, but having land and extra living space can definitely be worth it if you can afford it. Hopefully it leaves you in a good position to downsize in the future if you want to.

That's pretty much all that needs to be said at this point. We're surrounded by others who made it happen without the world catching on fire, and money that could be spent in the state is leaving every day we drag it out.