Northward up the Blue Ridge Parkway for the weekend.
The Linn Cove viaduct. It was the last 7 mile section of the parkway finished in 1987. It was held up by environmentalists who wanted them to preserve the scenic and fragile environment on the slopes of Grandfather mountain. It is a 1,243 foot long bridge that snakes around boulders and appears to hug the side of the mountain, or floating above the trees. It cost $10 million to build and they are calling it the most complicated concrete bridge ever built. It is also called the most photographed part of the parkway. It reminds me of I-70 thru Glenwood canyon in Colorado. Another beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway view.
Julian Price Memorial Park was originally bought by Julian Price as a recreational retreat for his employees at his insurance company. Nice man to work for! When he passed away in 1946 his heirs turned the land over to the park service for the parkway. It has a small lake. Price Lake, we hiked the 2.3 mile trail around it. Here is the train head. A lot of the trail is a tunnel thru the rhododendrons. Kind of like hiking in the jungle.
John by the lake. I got into the rhododendrons, they were just beautiful. So lush. Lots of photos of them.
John smelling the flowers, and smelling a rock.
Rhododendron tunnels.
Price lake, with Grandfather mountain in the background. It is the highest peak in north western North Carolina at 5,964 feet. Grandfather mountain has 4 ski areas on it. The ski capital of the south.
These rhododendrons are beautiful and huge. They are kind of creamy white with blush pink edges. For such a pretty flower, it surprisingly has almost no fragrance. An anemone, and a rhododendron bud.
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