Tiki Tom
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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With Pilar in Havana.
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Pumpkin patch 2016.
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quikrick
One Too Many
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- 1,095
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- Bay Area, California
This is me in 2012! I've cut me hair since then.
This past weekend, my wife and I took a nice four-mile hike down the mountain and through the Royal Gorge in Western NC on the Point Lookout Trail from Ridgecrest to Old Fort. The Point Lookout Trail follows the route of old NC 10 (that later became US 70). The road as a state highway was abandoned years ago, although I do remember riding "the old way" to Asheville a couple times when I was a boy in the very early 1960s. I specifically remember the actual Point Lookout that was along this section of highway. There used to be a stopping place there where they had apples and honey (two of the things I remember vividly). I can also remember when we used to go to Asheville up "new" US 70 (now I-40) and looking over at the top of the mountain and seeing in the distance across the gorge the old Point Lookout building with the name painted on its roof. All of that is gone now, and only memories remain. Nothing (or very little) remains of even the hint of a building once there. The main feature remaining is the rock stairs (now almost totally covered with kudzu vine) that lead up to the observation platform overlooking the Point Lookout building.
Our hike was about a four mile walk all downhill. Most all of the old cement highway built in 1921 as the North Carolina State Highway Number 10 remains intact, although, obviously well-worn over the years and much damaged by years of abandonment. Several years ago, McDowell County opened the abandoned roadway as a bike and hiking path and paved a single bike-wide strip down the center of the roadbed.
We’ve had a lot of rain in Western NC as of late, and we were lucky some of that rain held off, and only the dampness from the wet trees and the fog was there. As we walked along we marveled at how green everything was. I believe the brilliance of the green was the most I've seen in many years. Even with heavy fog obscuring many of the views along the way, it was a beautiful hike.
Talking about the fog and following this old highway reminds me of a story (like I really need some reminding to tell a story).
Growing up, I heard many times the story about the family coming off the mountain in the fog. This took place in the early 1930s, when my Dad was just a boy. The family had been to Asheville in their 1927 Oldsmobile. Coming home down NC 10 (the main highway at the time), it was so foggy that they couldn't see the road. My Maw got out of the car, lit a kerosene lantern that they always had with them in case of emergencies (I still have that same lantern by the way), and walked along in front of the car guiding them all the way off the mountain. My Dad says he only remembered going to sleep in the back seat of the car, but my aunt Hazel (who was the driver at the time) always shuddered when that story was told. Hazel said she was never so scared in her life as when she had to drive that old '27 Olds off the mountain in the fog. She often said she could have seen just as easily if she closed her eyes, and even with Maw walking along in front with a lantern it was all she could do to see the light. Even Maw said she didn't know from one step to the next if she was going to walk off the side of the road or not. Now, that's some thick fog!
While there was some fog today, it was nowhere near as bad as it was when Maw had to lead the car off the mountain; however, with each step I took today I could "see" in my mind Maw walking on before me. Maw was always the one to "lead the way", be it off a fog-covered mountain or just through life in general.
Our hike was about a four mile walk all downhill. Most all of the old cement highway built in 1921 as the North Carolina State Highway Number 10 remains intact, although, obviously well-worn over the years and much damaged by years of abandonment. Several years ago, McDowell County opened the abandoned roadway as a bike and hiking path and paved a single bike-wide strip down the center of the roadbed.
We’ve had a lot of rain in Western NC as of late, and we were lucky some of that rain held off, and only the dampness from the wet trees and the fog was there. As we walked along we marveled at how green everything was. I believe the brilliance of the green was the most I've seen in many years. Even with heavy fog obscuring many of the views along the way, it was a beautiful hike.
Talking about the fog and following this old highway reminds me of a story (like I really need some reminding to tell a story).
Growing up, I heard many times the story about the family coming off the mountain in the fog. This took place in the early 1930s, when my Dad was just a boy. The family had been to Asheville in their 1927 Oldsmobile. Coming home down NC 10 (the main highway at the time), it was so foggy that they couldn't see the road. My Maw got out of the car, lit a kerosene lantern that they always had with them in case of emergencies (I still have that same lantern by the way), and walked along in front of the car guiding them all the way off the mountain. My Dad says he only remembered going to sleep in the back seat of the car, but my aunt Hazel (who was the driver at the time) always shuddered when that story was told. Hazel said she was never so scared in her life as when she had to drive that old '27 Olds off the mountain in the fog. She often said she could have seen just as easily if she closed her eyes, and even with Maw walking along in front with a lantern it was all she could do to see the light. Even Maw said she didn't know from one step to the next if she was going to walk off the side of the road or not. Now, that's some thick fog!
While there was some fog today, it was nowhere near as bad as it was when Maw had to lead the car off the mountain; however, with each step I took today I could "see" in my mind Maw walking on before me. Maw was always the one to "lead the way", be it off a fog-covered mountain or just through life in general.
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Woodtroll
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,263
- Location
- Mtns. of SW Virginia
I enjoy reading about your adventures in western North Carolina! In my college days and for a few years after, I did forestry research work in the spruce-fir forests in the Black Mountains of NC and the Mount Rogers area of Virginia. What an absolutely beautiful part of the country, but it could be very rugged! We were a rugged crew to match, and I was in my prime and in a place I felt I was meant to be. And I remember the fog and the cold rains well; in those high mountains hypothermia could be a concern even in June and July if you were up in the clouds and rain all day.
As my kids were growing up, our family would visit the Mount Mitchell area every few years, and I would go off into the fir forests and just sit and let the smells of the woods and damp earth take me back. My wife understood, but I'm not sure my kids ever did.
Your pictures bring back very fond memories, as well. Thanks for taking us along on your adventures!
Take care,
Regan
As my kids were growing up, our family would visit the Mount Mitchell area every few years, and I would go off into the fir forests and just sit and let the smells of the woods and damp earth take me back. My wife understood, but I'm not sure my kids ever did.
Your pictures bring back very fond memories, as well. Thanks for taking us along on your adventures!
Take care,
Regan
I enjoy reading about your adventures in western North Carolina! In my college days and for a few years after, I did forestry research work in the spruce-fir forests in the Black Mountains of NC and the Mount Rogers area of Virginia. What an absolutely beautiful part of the country, but it could be very rugged! We were a rugged crew to match, and I was in my prime and in a place I felt I was meant to be. And I remember the fog and the cold rains well; in those high mountains hypothermia could be a concern even in June and July if you were up in the clouds and rain all day.
As my kids were growing up, our family would visit the Mount Mitchell area every few years, and I would go off into the fir forests and just sit and let the smells of the woods and damp earth take me back. My wife understood, but I'm not sure my kids ever did.
Your pictures bring back very fond memories, as well. Thanks for taking us along on your adventures!
Take care,
Regan
Thanks.
I'm about 40 or so miles from Mount Mitchell and hike there often. You are right, there's nothing quite like the smells of the fir forest at that high elevation. If you haven't been there in a while, you should come visit again. The fir trees, which were suffering greatly from the effects of acid rain, are now making a remarkable comeback as a result of the strict environmental policies enacted over the past two decades. I only hope the lessening of restrictions won't have an inverse impact on the trees. But enough of that.
There is something magical about the high mountains when the fog rolls through. I spent many a night on that mountain with my boys when they were growing up, and now we occasionally return together to some of our old "stomping grounds."
Woodtroll
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,263
- Location
- Mtns. of SW Virginia
That's really good news! We actually were part of a NOAA study measuring the decline of the forest, the regeneration, and that kind of thing from the mid 80's into the early 90's. We hiked all over that range and often lived in the woods for a week at a time when we were "way up there". Over the years we saw a distressed forest turn into large areas of skeletal trunks of the mature trees that had died. I'd like to see it again as I first saw it, but haven't been there in some years. I'll have to make a point to visit soon. Thank you!
If you come this way, let me know. We can meet up and explore some of Mount Mitchell.
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Woodtroll
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,263
- Location
- Mtns. of SW Virginia
That would be excellent, thank you for the offer! I am hobbling along pretty badly right now, but after a scheduled hip replacement this winter I expect to be moving better next summer and ready to hit the trails again. Right now I am adventuring vicariously via y'all's excellent posts and pictures on this thread. Thank you again!
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- 14,789
Cool photo Big Man!
Thanks. My son, James, climbed to the top of the ridge just to be in position to take that shot when I passed by. James is a great photographer (pardon my bragging on my son).
OldStrummer
Practically Family
- Messages
- 552
- Location
- Ashburn, Virginia USA
A little class-3 action in Costa Rica.
BTW - My mount is "Grant", retired Percheron from Fort Mead, VA. Was right lead pulling President Ronald Reagan's hearse to Arlington Cemetery as seen in this photo.
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