Our most recent trip to the mountains gave us two beautiful mornings in Balsam Mountain Preserve near Sylva, NC. Before departing on Sunday, we set out to find one of the remote cabins listed on the property map on the trail marked as #1. It was just the three of us, my 13-year-old daughter, my husband and I.

We found two delightful things on our journey. The first was a rock formation that would require most broader shouldered sojourners to turn parallel to the trial and shimmy through by walking in a sideways motion. I like to call it fat man squeeze in honor of a place by the same name that my parents used to take us to as children. The rock on the right in the picture is about 9 ft. high.

The second thing of note was a frame inside the cabin entitled Rules of this Tavern. I can’t be certain whether the small framed print was left by one of the original designers or if someone brought it along and left it behind for everyone to enjoy a giggle as they visited the cabin.