The Blue Ridge Parkway

 A most beautiful drive from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park Entrance (North Carolina side of the park) all the way to Boone, NC - a stretch of 250 parkway miles through some of the most beautiful mountains in this region of the country. Our day started overcast and calling for rain but from past experience I knew it was exactly these conditions that could produce absolutely vivid and intense colors. Moving in and out of the fog and cloud cover, some of the overlooks were obscured from our vision and others standing in all their magnificent colors seemed to be calling out for someone to feast their eyes upon such splendor! Starting in the mountains of the Cherokee Indian Reservation and passing the highest point on the parkway at 6047 feet we landed at The Pisgah Inn on Mount Pisgah where we dined on freshly cooked food and topped with a glass of wine while looking through a wall of windows touting a large panoramic view of the Mountains beyond. A perfect place to rest before landing in Boone, NC, where we spent the night before driving back the same stretch of parkway. First stop was Grandfather Mountain, but it was totally covered in fog and we decided to head on down and stop at Mount Mitchell State Park, which offers the highest point east of the Mississippi at 6684 feet in elevation. The views from the newly completed observation tower were a sight to behold. Here we hiked The Balsam Trail (only 3/4 of a mile in length) which took us through a spruce-fir forest similar in habitat to Canada.  Even though the spruce-fir forests are greatly diminished, they are still present. Red spruce, fire cherry, yellow birch, mountain ash, and mountain maple have filled gaps opened by the loss of Fraser fir, and other native plant species such as blueberry, mountain raspberry, red elder, and bush honeysuckle produce beautiful blossoms and lend fragrance to the air. The hike was easy and educational. The remainder of the trip was spent stopping roadside to admire a magnificent view or observe the wildlife that presented itself from time to time. The perfect way to spend the weekend.

The Cullasaja River

Alway beautiful and always worth stopping to admire, even if for a brief minute or two, Cullasaja Falls, located on Highway 28/64 between Franklin and Highlands, NC is beginning to show nice fall colors. You can park directly on the side of the road (only space for a car or two) and see this view from the road.