To the Woods

Time to head west to the mountains! After enjoying sun and sand on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and Ocracoke Island, we spent the Memorial Day weekend with friends in Chapel Hill then hitched up the Casita and headed west to Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Here’s the comment that my so David made about the first hiking photo we sent him: “Looks like New Hampshire!” Okay, he has a point 🙂 After all, the Blue Ridge Mountains are Appalachians just like the Whites. But then again…

We headed to the Pisgah National Forest to hike and admire waterfalls. We arrived at the Looking Glass Rock trailhead in the early morning to beat the crowds on this popular trail. We were rewarded with having the trail to ourselves (at least on the way up). Towering conifers gave way to Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurel  at higher elevations. (This strikes me as different from New Hampshire, just sayin’.) We were past the spring bloom period, but some of the laurels hung on, gracing us with their pale pink, freckled blossoms.

We walked over the wooded summit and down to a look out above the rock face that is popular with technical climbers. The guide book warned us not to approach the edge of the lookout because of the drop off down the sheer face. E-gads! Needless to say, the dogs were on leashes.

The Last of the Mohicans Waterfall

The Pisgah National Forest is known for its waterfalls. Have you seen the movie Last of the Mohicans? It’s a favorite of mine. Okay, the part where Magua cuts out Colonel Munro’s heart is a wee bit over the edge, but it’s really a love story, and when Hawkeye and Cora are behind the waterfall, and he says, “Stay alive no matter what occurs. I will find you, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far. I will find you,” then jumps through the waterfall, well, goosebumps!(Click here for a link to a 14 second video.) The James Fenimore Cooper novel is set in upstate New York, but much of the filming was done in the Pisgah, including the waterfall shots. Just glorious all around.

Our favorite camping spot in the Pisgah is Lake Powhatan. It’s heavily wooded with a lake for swimming and fishing.  Okay, it’s sounding like New Hampshire again. But then again, we love where we live, so why wouldn’t we love the North Carolina version of it? The food available in Asheville is worth a mention, too. I must say they do mighty tasty barbecue below the Mason Dixon Line.

Speaking of which (the Mason Dixon Line, not barbecue), on our way home we spent two nights in Virginia visiting the Civil War battlefield at Petersburg and a couple of sights in Richmond. I’d include a photo of our campsite at Pocahontas State Park (can you paint with all the colors of the wind?), but it looks exactly like Lake Powhatan. At Petersburg we learned about the enormous explosion that the Union army engineered by digging under Confederate lines. It created a crater that was the site of one of the more horrendous battles of the war (among many, many horrendous battles). Have you read the book Cold Mountain or seen the movie? I’m pretty sure it’s that explosion at Petersburg that lands Inman in the hospital and leads to his very sensible decision to start walking home to Cold Mountain (which happens to be near Asheville, NC) and Ada. Ah, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman… Okay, enough Civil War history!

Overflow Water Wheel

In Richmond we toured the terrific American Civil War Museum at the Tredegar Iron Works. We learned why Richmond, so perilously close to Washington, D.C. was made the capital of the Confederacy — it was vital to supplying the South with manufactured goods, particularly canons forged at Tredegar. Amazingly, the iron works operation ran on water power until the 1950’s! We also saw an exhibit there that I thought was brilliant. It was a walking bridge spanning the James River that chronicles the three days in April 1865 when Richmond fell to the Union army. There’s a timeline on the sides of the bridge, and installed in many of the treads are quotes from people of the time. Here’s the bridge and one of the treads:

Finally, we visited St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond where Patrick Henry made his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech. Yes, we seem to be back to New Hampshire again. On that note, it’s time to hitch up the Casita and head home. Thanks for traveling with us!