Next day, I left Blowing Rock to get to Charlotte. Before getting into town, I made a detour the Crowders Mountain State Park, which is some 50 km west of Charlotte. There are plenty of hiking alternatives in the park, but as it was Sunday and the park is close to Charlotte and just outside decently-sized Gastonia, I did not get the park to myself. (But it was nowhere as crazy as at Grandfather Mountain.) I opted to take the trail to the highest peak in the park, the King's Pinnacle. The trail started off gently to be distinctively steep at the end.