It was time to leave Cataloochee. I was scared to death all week thinking of the drive out. But this time we took the car off the back of the bus and I drove it down first, and stopped all of the on coming traffic. It was much easier for John not towing the car, and not meeting anyone. Much easier on me because I did not have to sit in the bus and look out the window on the way down! We got groceries, propane in town and went to Smokemont, another campground in the park with a normal road in. It was a large CCC camp when they were building the park. It is on the main drag across the park, near the Oconoluftee visitors centers.
A ski area in North Carolina. I would never have imagined on in the south. We were told the Blue ridge highway was the best way to go in the bus. The Blue ridge highway goes from the Great Smokey's in North Carolina to Shenandoah Park in Virginia. 469 miles. It follows the crest of the Blue Ridge and other ranges at elevations from 649 feet to 6,047.
The lanes were about as wide as the bus, but at least it was paved. John says it might be better in the winter when you could see the views thru the trees. The views were great at the scenic overlooks, the road was very steep.
There were lots of these tunnels-this one has a clearance of 13 feet, 6 inches. The bus is 12"’6’-it looked pretty tight.
Mingus grist mill. It operated until the 1930’s when the owner sold it for the park. The park was private land bought from the settlers and the logging companies by the states of North Carolina and Tennessee and private citizens, then donated to the park service for the park. It has a really long mill race bringing water to a turbine wheel instead of a big mill wheel. The water comes down the mill race in the photo on the left and then drops into the turbine in the photo on the right.
This park of the mill race was sided with thick wooden slabs, covered with moss. John at the gate in the river.
excess water from the mill race. A hinge made out of horse shoes at the mill.
More from the relief map at the visitors center. The red line is the high way going over the Smokey's, the yellow trail along the ridge is the Appalachian trail. To the left on the ridge is Clingmans dome, it is the third highest peak in the state, 6,643 high. You can see how big and steep the mountains are here. A Cherokee legend about going to the water.
The mountain farm museum at the Oconaluftee visitors center in the park. It captures the feel of a typical 1880’s southern Appalachian farm. The buildings are all from inside the park and restored. Above is the garden, with the bird houses in the gourds for pest control. The Cherokee Indians who were here first farmed the valleys, grew corn and gourds and lived in log cabins. The settlers learned from them. The second photo has the apple house in the fore ground and the barn and corn crib in the background.
John looking in the log home-see how wide the logs are-from huge trees, the kitchen
holly hock, and the corn crib-more wide lots. Probably from the same tree, they are just as big.
hand hewn logs in the barn and the buildings taken from inside the barn.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.