Craggy Pinnacle is located north of Asheville on the Blueridge parkway around milepost 364.1. It’s a 5,892-ft summit to the top. This is part of the Craggy Gardens area in the Pisgah National forest.
This is a straightforward hike and a short hike to get to the summit. It can be 20 degrees or so colder up here than in the valleys.
There are no large trees here. Instead, one will be greeted with the thick forest of small birch, rhododendron, mountain laurel, blueberry bushes, and shrubs all around. The ground is covered in many different kinds of moss, with mushrooms growing all around. There are some great views from the summit that are very inspiring to hold in one’s mind.
The energy here is very primal.
Craggy Pinnacle, is also home to some of the most fragile plant ecosystems in the area. These plants are a holdover from the alpine tundra that once covered most of the southern Appalachians during the last Ice Age. As the world warmed and the cold-loving plants moved north, they also moved up in elevation, finding shelter only on higher ground. These plants eventually develop into new endemic species found nowhere else on the planet! So be careful going off the trail, as you can be killing the vegetation that has battled for life.
There are many extraordinary natural altars for one to do their Rites at, and with this primordial energy around, it would be a very special Rite.
We went at a very liminal time as in the valleys, it is spring, and from the top of the mountain, you can see spring working her way up from the streams in the low parts of the mountains.
You could see the Deuoi all around Sirona, melting the streams and bringing in the warmth. Nantosueltâ flowing in the sun bring forth the vegetation from the streams and spreading across the land. Sucellos is working the motions within the earth for Nantosueltâ, helping to bring life to the land.
This is such a magical place, and I’m very lucky that the Deuoi blessed me with living here.
The Carnutian Nemeton 