Pisgah and the Rat

I have been visiting and exploring the western North Carolina mountains for over thirty years. I have always been particularly drawn to the Blue Ridge Parkway south of Asheville. In reading about the area, I have once or twice come across a reference to "Pisgah and the Rat". While quite familiar with Mt. Pisgah, "the Rat" remained a mystery. I examined the topographic maps of the area searching for a peak or other geographical reference to the "Rat", but to no avail. I had relegated the matter to the "mystery" category, and put it somewhat out of my mind. Occasionally I would run into a local resident and inquire about "the Rat", but usually just got strange looks.

Then the other day I was reading a Google document, actually an internet scan of Margaret W. Morley's "The Carolina Mountains". In the chapter entitled "Asheville", Ms. Morley explains the following: "That beautiful form with the dome-like top, southwest of Asheville, is Mount Pisgah, and that ridge, a little bit lower and to the left of the summit, is the Rat." I then looked at a photograph I had taken from the Asheville vicinity, and there as clear as day, were Pisgah and the Rat. Mystery solved.

The rat is actually Little Pisgah Mountain, and only looks like a rat if viewed from the east or even from the northeast.