June 23-24, 2012 Blue Ridge parkway mm 295.9

Today is Saturday so it was pretty crowded. The picnic area had no parking left there were so many picnickers there. We decided to hike Green Knob, a 2.4 mile strenuous trail to a bald-what they call open meadows on the tops of the peaks.  They think they may have been formed from grazing, or forest fires long ago. Usually they are thick with flowering bushes, like azaleas and rhododendrons. This one was from grazing, and is still being grazed.

the trail rises steeply thru first rhododendrons and then hardwood forest with ferns and such. As John says, a typical Appalachian trail, uphill both ways. Very steep.  Then to the bald. John is hiking with Chase, we met him on the trail. He is a local boy, from Boone, who just got out of the service and is taking some college courses and thinking about moving to Colorado, Oregon or California. He was real interesting and told us about lots of good places to go.

These guys grazed the bald. A whole herd of them. We met some people coming the other day with an English setter who was very leery of the cows.  John and Chase in the rhododendrons.

 

Sims pond had lots of nice wild flowers. A queen Ann's lace, pink sweet pea kind of things, another queen ann, wild flowers by a fence and purple ones.

Sims pond. After hiking we went pack to the campground and put the boats on Price lake. I wore my bikini that matches my boat and did some power sunbathing on the lake. Being Saturday there were lots of people on the lake, renting boats or their own paddling around. I really like it when we are somewhere pretty to see that the locals come out and enjoy it- so many of them don’t, like the people in Denver who never go to the mountains.

John on Price lake.  The rhododendrons look like the mangroves we saw in Florida- impenetrable.

Esp. these ones that get damaged from the ice in the winter- look like mangrove roots. After that boat ride I rode a lawn chair the rest of the afternoon and worked on the basket. The basket still in progress.

This is a motorcycle camper. This couple from Florida, who have toured all 50 states, including Alaska and all of the providences of Canada, pulled up with this tiny little trailer and proceeded to keep opening it up until they had this huge tent with a large bed and room to stand up in, then pulled out their cooler and lawn chairs. I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it going up with my own eyes.

Sunday we went to Moses H Cone Memorial Park, mm 294 on the Blue Ridge parkway.  Moses and his brother made the fortune in the textile world, they were the largest producer of denim in the world.  Moses and his wife Bertha built Flat Top Manor at the turn of the twentieth century as their country home and retreat from the rigors of their business empire. One of Moses hobbies was road building, so there are 25 miles of carriage roads on the estate. After their death  the family offered the estate to the parkway with the understanding that it would be operated as a public park and pleasuring ground.

Flat Top Manor. John is on the porch waving. It is now home to Parkway Craft Center that displays the art of local Highlands art guild members. The park service gives tours in the summer. This is Charlie, she makes unique dolls and she is doing a demo today. We had a long talk about her dolls and art in general.

John thought the  brakes were making too much noise on the car, so he checked them out. He refused to get back under the car for the photo. The back brakes need new pads. I sat in the lawn chair and worked on the basket.

a deer enjoying the grass between campsites while I basketed. The moon setting in the sunset.