Tom Wolfe

[tnartist05]

On the 4th me and my wife went up to Grandfather Mtn in Linville,NC,there's a mile high swing'n bridge up on the top also. It was alot of fun plus I met Tom Wolfe,he had moved down in the park due to they was building a new gift shop on the top of the mtn.

He was a nice gentleman and I enjoyed talking with him about his carvings plus took some picts in his new shop there.

Forrest

[chuckt]

Wow! Nice trip. Tom's shop looks like a neat place to visit. Thanks for the photos. So is the mile high swinging bridge really a mile high? Or is just that it's located a mile above sea level as I am guessing. Just curious.

ChuckT

[Edit - Never mind the question. Found it on Wikipedia and it was as I suspected. I don't think I've ever heard of a bridge over 5000 ft high. heh heh Anyway - a very cool place to visit it looks like.]

[Sharon of the Dell]

Looks like it was a fun trip. Nice way to spend the 4th. Thanks for showing us all pictures of your adventure.....sharon

[tnartist05]

Grandfather MountainMile High Swinging Bridge

Swinging Bridge Facts

The Mile High Swinging Bridge was built to give visitors easy access to the breath-taking view from Grandfather Mountain's Linville Peak.
The 228-foot suspension bridge spans an 80-foot chasm at more than one mile in elevation. Surveys show that the journey to the other side is always considered the highlight of a trip to Grandfather Mountain.
Access - requires climbing 50 stairs to reach the level of the Swinging Bridge. Those who choose not to climb the stairs can enjoy similar vistas from the parking area.
Name - Former North Carolina Tourism Director Charles J. Parker coined the name " Mile High Swinging Bridge" at the Bridge's dedication in 1952.

• The term "mile high" refers to the structure's elevation above sea level (5,305 feet)

Chuck,heres some more information about the swinging bridge,as for me not getting it right,I just went by the pamphlets you get when you enter the park. Its not a state park really,its owned by a family in NC. Thks for your input. Forrest

[tnartist05]

Yea is was something or some place my wife hadnt taken me too before so I enjoyed going to Grandfather. There was a eagle,bear, and a mtn lion but all that you had to walk down a trail to it,didnt go down there,too hard on me coming back up. Thks Sharon

[Iowa Carver]

Lucky lucky you Forrest. Man I would love to meet Tom. Do you know if he has a website where he sellls his stuff? Thanks for the pics, what a fun trip!

Corey

[bbeery]

Tom's a great guy! Good instructor. I've taken 4 classes from him at the Campbell School in North Carolina. He carved a dog out of walnut at one of the classes, in his spare time. I bought it.

[Mitchell]

He doesn't have a web site.... you can sometimes pick up a piece or two off of e-bay.

[Dan Wegiel]

Hey Forrest, Sounds like you had a great trip and I see in the pics that guy with the "Sunday go to meetin" straw hat showed up again.

Dan

[whittleguy]

I'm sure you enjoyed your visit. Several years ago I visited Tom's shop on top of Grandfather Mountain. The weather was terrible. It was so foggy that it was only possible to see about half way across the swinging bridge.

Since we were about the only ones crazy enough to drive up the mountain in that fog, I wasn't the driver, I got to spend almost two hours visiting with Tom. He was working on the carvings for his book on carving from roughouts.

I too had a very enjoyable visit as Tom personally showed me every carving in the shop. I watched him carve while we chatted. He had lots of advice which I still follow today.

My visit has been one of my favorite woodcarving experiences. I hope your visit was as enjoyable.