I found the Boyd Mountain cabins outside of Maggie Valley (near Waynesville, NC) several years ago, but I only stayed here once. As I recall at the time, I was feeling very burned out and wanted to get away for a few days. I talked the owners into letting me bring Cocoa! They have a [...]
If you go to Oconaluftee, you have to see the Elk. I keep seeing them but don't "see" the herds as much as the people, who live in the area. By that I mean, there's a whole group of people that follow the Elk (and now the eagles) around and report where they are at [...]
We were pretty much "earth-bound" on this last trip to Western North Carolina. Rain and then snow fell but our spirits were bright. The Blue Ridge Parkway was closed. Big Sigh from me. I wanted to hike to the upper falls at Graveyard Fields but that did not happen. We did find a couple of [...]
Waterrock Knob holds a special place in my heart. It was my first "real" over 6,000 foot hike after cancer and chemo! Looks like I could have chosen another hike to begin with; but looking back, I feel like this was the place God had for me. Made for the Mountains! . . . as [...]
Even thought summer is over, it is still all about the views and the hike. It was much colder and the first thing we encountered on our way up to Albert Mountain was a shallow stream crossing. I remember after climbing Fry Pan Mountain and the fire tower there, saying that the next thing I [...]
Obviously, I can't bring myself to say goodbye to the Blue Ridge Parkway this year. I keep returning and that's okay. It seems so odd to think that a roadway as beautiful and well-know as this Parkway will be closed during the winter and inaccessible, but this is what happens. Around Thanksgiving or at the [...]
For the sake of no comments, I'm going to call this hike the trail to Pickens Ridge! (It's really Pickens Nose) LOL! I've been here before as you will read at the end of this post but not in heavy clouds. That's where we found ourselves on Saturday afternoon—hiking through the clouds. It was fantastic. [...]
After I started following photographer Deborah Scannell and saw her photos of the Elk in the southern Appalachian mountains, I was convinced that I could capture a photo of them, too. Not as nicely done as her, of course, but still I could make an attempt. A couple of weeks ago, I did just that [...]
