iPod Photos

The first day of our daughter's visit, she and I drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the East.  I had my usual Nikon SLR with me and also my latest generation iPod.  I took photographs with both cameras and I must admit I was quite surprised at the quality of the iPod photographs.  So all of these pictures were taken with it.  How easy it is to stick in one's pocket, pull it out and shoot.  Makes me wish all the more that we had cell phone service at our house so I could have an iPhone.  But we are in a tiny "no bar" reception area.

Our first stop was at Craggy Gardens, best known for the gorgeous rhododendrons blooming profusely in the early summer.  At this elevation, most of the color was gone from the trees.  But it was one of the most clear days we have seen in quite a while.  And we were enjoying almost record-high temperatures.

Across the road from the visitor's center

We continued our drive, going higher and higher in elevation all the while.

 The distant mountains were gorgeous

 We arrived at Mt. Mitchell, highest point in NC

In fact, the highest point east of the Rockies

 We stopped for lunch at the restaurant near the top of Mt. Mitchell.  The food was good and our waiter was hilarious.  He called us "doll babies" and if you could have seen him and his drag-queen mannerisms you wouldn't have minded it either.  Daughter felt like a teenager among the old folks.  Most unfortunately, I felt right at home.

 Filled with a delicious lunch and enjoying the rockers in the warm sun.

The lady standing behind was breathing hard and leaning heavily on her cane.

But not one of those old farts was about to give up a seat.

 Descending a few thousand feet in elevation, we found plenty of color.  Gorgeous color.  That's one of the best things about living in the mountains...a twenty mile drive makes a huge difference in the Autumn color.

We spent every driving on mountain roads.  And the weather was perfect.  I still sort of miss my old (ten years old in fact) car, but my new one really does love the mountains even more than the old one did.  It has four turbo modes and goes effortlessly up the mountain inclines.  The more I drive it, the better I like it.

The Sun Still Came Up This Morning

Thousands of very excited fans filled up legendary Lambeau Field for a playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the NY Giants. 

This photograph and following photograph from Internet

Sunday before the game

Few people could have guessed what kind of game they were to watch.  The Packers had a stellar season and home-field advantage.  And when the home field is Lambeau, that is a real advantage.  (Name another  football town in which the people line up in freezing weather to help shovel snow from the seats and aisles preparing for the game.)  Game tickets had sold out and scalpers were making a lot of money.  Everything went well until the teams took to the field.  Dropped balls, fumbles, inadequate defense, an offensive line that couldn't protect the quarterback...all these problems plagued the Packers.  It was a painful experience for the team and for the fans.

A dejected Aaron Rodgers reflects the mood after the game.

And so a season ends.  Bright with promise with so many early wins and brilliant plays.  It's never fun to lose, but it is really awful to play so poorly.  The Packers beat themselves while the Giants observed.

But you know what?  It was a football game.  A football game.  And so we move on.  Where better to go than to the higher mountains.  (OK, Rocky Mountain readers...these are high mountains to us.)  Winter in the mountains brings  fewer visitors, especially to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).  Much of the BRP near us is closed to traffic.  For us that is a good thing.  Closed to traffic means OPEN to pedestrians!  If there is snow it means open to cross-country skiing or simply walking in the snow.

One of our favorite winter destinations is the Cold Mountain Overlook.  The parking lot is kept open although the BRP is closed in both directions.  I love the mountains in winter even without snow.  The air seems so crisp and clear.

A mountain view seen while walking along on the road.

 Cold Mountain itself.  (Yes THAT Cold Mountain)

Elevation 6,030 feet

 And looking in the opposite direction

 You just stand and take in the view.

For some reason, the people walking on the BRP are the nicest folks around.  All of them seem to love dogs and all the dogs seem to be friendly.  Strangers stop and share their feelings about the beauty.  No one seems irritated.  No one seems rushed.  And that is good.  It makes me smile.  The mountains will do that to you.

Fridays are Golden

Lake Wanteska is the second largest lake within our community.  It has a lovely earthen dam and is one of  Ellie's and Lucy's favorite running places.  As soon as we are out of the SUV they run at breakneck speed across the dam.  Then they turn and come running back to us.

Running free is such a treat!

 This is the only dam in which the girls can actually run up and down the dam itself.  They love it.  And we love it because they get such good exercise and spend a really quiet afternoon.

Ellie loves to sniff the wind and smell those wonderful autumn smells.

The fall color at the lake is past peak but beautiful nonetheless.

And how was the color on parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday?  White.  It was all white around Craggy Gardens.  Rime ice covered the forest.  (Rime ice is ice that forms on the trees or roads from water droplets in the fog.)  In the mountains you always hope that you will see the ice on the trees before you feel your car slide in the invisible (black ice) rime ice on the road.

Above photograph from the Asheville Citizen-Times taken by Bill Sanders.

Our quote for the week comes from Pulitzer Prize winner Edwin Way Teale:

Change is a measure of time, and in the autumn time seems speeded up.  What was is not and never again will be; what is is change.

Someone said that our time here is not a dress rehearsal.  This is it.  Make the most of it.  Now.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE.   FULL OF LIFE AND LOVE

In Only One Week

I cannot recall the color ever bursting forth as quickly as it did this year.  Last week the Blue Ridge Parkway viewing areas gave us the beginning of color in the mountains.  When we went back up this week most of the yellows were gone from the higher elevations and the reds dominated the color.

The color in the higher elevations is still lovely with mostly reds and a bit of yellow.

 A treat for the eyes no matter the season.

Looking Glass Rock, so named because the water on the rock face freezes in winter and the sun makes the mountain shine like a mirror.

At slightly lower elevations, there is more color including the yellows and oranges.

At a drop of a thousand feet the color is more pronounced.  At John Rock the color is gorgeous.

Davidson River delights the trout fishermen and women.  They dot the river all along its way.

We will be making trips up to the Parkway until it closes for the winter.  When our children were younger we used to take them to the Cold Mountain Overlook where the gates keep automobile traffic from entering.  During winter it is such a treat to walk the Parkway in the snow.  Perhaps we will take the dogs up there this year.

A Glimpse of Things to Come

This morning we went hiking on one of the trails off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The air was crisp and the view spectacular.  It was amazing to note the differences in the amount of color as we rounded one curve after another.  You may want to click to enlarge the photographs.

Not a lot of color in the distance, but beautiful anyway.

 The area near Graveyard Fields always seems to have the earliest color.

We stopped by the Pisgah Inn for lunch after our hike.  We left just in time to see two busloads of tourists stopping.  (Note to self:  You got lucky this time.  Don't have lunch there during leaf season.  Breakfast is a better time to stop.)

A Little Muted This Year

Some people seem naturally optimistic.  They enjoy the now and appreciate what they have.  Other people seem naturally pessimistic.  Whatever they see...it could have been better or bigger.  When something good happens they tend to think, "well, it could have been more."  My mother had a phrase for such people.  I often heard her say of someone, "He wouldn't be happy sitting at the feet of Jesus!"

This year's leaf color is not as spectacular as usual.  I hear people complaining all the time about it.  And yet, how can you look at these majestic mountains and not be filled with awe?  I want to scream at these people to open their eyes and appreciate the beauty rather than lamenting how much better it could be.

All the photographs are from overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  You may need to click and enlarge them.

Fridays are Golden

Our Lucy can sleep in almost any position.  We have seen her fall asleep using all sorts of items for pillows, even the hard stone hearth.  Every now and then she puts here entire head under a chair leaving a headless body outside.

I have no idea what makes this comfortable for her.

How often I have wished I could sleep like this.  She seems totally relaxed.

And peaceful

We took another drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday looking for color.

We found some.

We are in the midst of autumn.  The leaves are not at peak but still beautiful.  We're having sunny days and cold nights and are totally enjoying the season.  In the words of Longfellow, "O what a glory doth this world put on..."

I hope that you are enjoying the glory around you.  Slow down a bit and embrace the season.  Do something nice for someone else.  And then do something nice for yourself.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Not So Much Color Yet

We have a fair amount of color beginning in our community.  That always excites us because it means the color is really coming to the higher mountains.

Color on our street

So we drove up through Pisgah Forest to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Surprisingly enough, the amount of color didn't change very much as we gained altitude.  The trees were about the same.  But the mountains were gorgeous as they always are.

[NOTE:  I have no idea why these photographs are so dark on Blogger.]

A view of the mountains from the Blue Ridge Parkway

We drove up to Mt. Pisgah and found a larger than usual crowd for a week day.  It seems the top of the tower was going to be replaced that day and folks were waiting to see the helicoptor hovering and placing the tip.  The winds were extremely high that morning so the people had waited in vain.  The tip would not be placed that day.

Mt. Pisgah, a favorite for hiking and camping

We went inside the Pisgah Inn.  While we didn't eat there this day, it is one of our favorite breakfast spots.  We try to get up there often when it is open.  Great food at a good price and a panoramic view of the mountains.

I took a picture of this bench for our fisher/birder blogger friend up in MN.  Even Baron would be allowed to sit on this one.

So we will wait for the color, just like we wait every fall.  I'll bring you some photographs of the changes.

We may be close to Heaven, but the Devil is here too

For those of us who live here, the NC mountains are close to heaven. We often stand in complete awe of the majesty here. In all seasons the mountains touch our lives and uplift our spirits.

However, there are many places in our mountains where the Devil himself makes his presence known. One such place is a rock formation in Chimney Rock State Park.

As you climb above Chimney Rock itself, the formation comes into view.

A closer look gives the details of the Devil's face, looking out over the mountain.

Folklore tells us that the Devil is there to remind us of his continuing presence and influence in our lives. Geologists tell a slightly different story. They say the rock is part of a very large rock slide with this boulder landing on the ledge. Because of the nature of the rock, some areas eroded away, leaving the outline of the head and facial features.

The Blue Ridge Parkway passes around another famous rock formation known as the Devil's Courthouse. Folklore tells us that the devil held court there.

Cherokee legend tells us that a huge giant named Tsul'kalu' used a cave within this mountain for a ballroom and danced there. The slanty-eyed giant who stepped across the mountains, scratching and carving the stones, is now called Judaculla. (Like so many other names, settlers felt the need to make Cherokee and other Native American names easier to pronounce.)

I understand the scientific explanations for our rock formations. And yet there is a part of me that clings to the legends. Don't get me started on the Indian princess(es) who leapt from the waterfall(s).

ELDERLY Hiker?

POTUS and FLOTUS vacationed in Western North Carolina this past weekend. Oh...that would be the President of the United States and the First Lady of the United States. On Friday afternoon they decided to do a bit of hiking on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Karen Russell, visiting our area from Ohio, happened to be hiking on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on Friday afternoon. Two men "with little pins and ear pieces" approached her, followed by more Secret Service agents.

The agents scanned her (with her permission) with a metal detecting wand and checked her pockets, waist pack, and camera. About that time, the President and First Lady came into view. Ms. Russell was stunned and reacted just like we would have by asking something like, "Are you who I think you are?"

Both photographs from the Asheville Citizen-Times

The Obamas greeted her and shook hands, chatting for a while. One of the agents took Ms. Russell's photograph with the Obamas. They wished her well, told her to have a nice day, and walked on.

Saturday morning Ms. Russell quietly came down for breakfast at the little inn where she was staying. The owner asked her what she did the day before. She told them she went hiking on the Parkway. Oh, she also mentioned that she met the President and First Lady. Needless to say, the guests were suitably impressed.

The meeting was on television with the caption, "Elderly Hiker Meets the Obamas." ELDERLY!!! Ms. Russell is 65!!! I don't know if she took offense at being called elderly, but I certainly did! I must admit, I don't know what constitutes "elderly," but it sure ain't 65!

A Very Short Drive on the Parkway

Today brought another gorgeous spring day in the mountains. Forsaking the chores we needed to do, we decided to drive up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a short drive. It was a short drive indeed. We took our usual route up US276 through Pisgah National Forest.

This winter we suffered through heavy snows, two major ice storms and frequent high winds. We lost many trees in our community and on our property. But that did not prepare us for the horrific sights along the highway as we drove up the mountains to the Parkway.

We got on the Parkway at our usual spot near the Cold Mountain Overlook and started to head south. We traveled no further than the end of the overlook when we encountered this sign:



We turned north, knowing that the Parkway was closed beyond Mt. Pisgah because of an unstable slide.

As we drove we saw areas in which every single tree was topped. It was as if a giant had trampled through the mountains with a scythe, cutting off the tops of all the trees and knocking down many others.

I know that when the trees leaf out again the devastation will be hidden from sight. We could drive only three miles between the closed sections. Crews are working hard to clear all the fallen limbs and trees. Hopefully the Parkway will reopen soon. People will drive through and admire the majesty of the mountains. Few of them will know the extent of winter's damage. The mountains will know, and those of us who live here will know. The mountains will recover and stand as they have for so long.

Cold Mountain looked much the same from a distance although I know the trees there suffered mightily.

Every spring we drive up the Parkway at least once a week to see the awakening and greening of these beautiful mountains. I'm not sure I want to go back again this year until the trees are all leafed out to cover up the broken and twisted trees.