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| Our house up on the Blue Ridge Parkway |
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| Catawaba Rhododendron blooming on Blue Ridge Parkway |
Linville Falls
Our destination was the Linville Falls
Campground, about 65 miles north of Asheville.
We had heard it was a beautiful area with many trails plus we would be back near the Appalachian Trail again and there was a
section of it near Roan Mountain that we wanted to hike. We reached our campground about mid-afternoon
after stops for short hikes at Craggy Gardens, Glassmine Falls and Dugger Creek. There was time to check out the Visitor Center at Linville Falls before having some of David's homemade tomato sauce over penne pasta and going to bed early.
Linville Gorge, with many dead hemlocks
The days we camped at Linville Falls were clear and glorious. The rain was gone and we made the most of it by hiking every day. We enjoyed hiking to the falls and down into Linville Gorge. The trail into the gorge was steep and very rocky, one of those trails that was just as difficult climbing down as going back up. Once we reached the bottom Maya had a swim in the river and we all enjoyed a picnic. The whole experience was made even more gorgeous as the rhododendrons were starting to bloom. But we were sad to see many dead hemlocks along the streams and rivers.
Linville River at the bottom of the Gorge - Maya tests the waters
Rhododendron...
We did take our hike on the Appalachian Trail near Roan Mountain. Roan Mountain is actually a high ridge about five miles long that ranges in height from 5,500 feet at Carver's Gap to 6,285 feet at Roan High Knob. Many of the highest areas are covered with forests of spruce and fir usually found much farther north. About the third week of June hundreds of acres of Catawba rhododendrons put on a spectacular show of magenta blooms. It was still a few weeks before the peak of the blooming season, but pink was starting to happen on Roan Mountain. 
Grassy bald and blue ridges...
East of Carver's Gap are several areas of large grassy 'balds.' The origin of these rare and beautiful balds is not really understood. It is thought that maybe continuous grazing by prehistoric animals followed by elk and bison maintained the balds. Indians may have helped maintain them by burning the areas to keep the grasses and thus continuing to attract the grazing animals. Today the Forest Service has to maintain the balds by mowing and grazing as shrubs and trees will invade the open areas if left alone.
Prostrate bluets - the balds are often covered in wildflowers
For hikers the balds make for fantastic views. As we hiked Roan Mountain we went from deep, dark spruce-fir forests where practically no sunlight reached the forest floor then out on to grassy mountain tops with 360 degree views. It was just an incredible hike! And we ran into one of the AT 'thru hikers' we met back in Georgia. What a coincidence!
Cindy and Maya by northbound AT trail marker
It was so good to see Amy, who is hiking the whole AT by herself this summer, still on her way. We persuaded her to take a break and stop for a few minutes to talk to us about her journey so far. She said she had been doing great but had underestimated just how much food she would need. She is eating a lot more than normal, expending all that energy hiking. But she has great support from home, lots of 'care' packages mailed to her and there are so many places to stop and resupply along the way. We wished her all the best and said we would continue to look for her as we made our way north and hiked more sections of the AT. We waved goodbye to Amy and headed back to our car less than a half mile away and thought about her 1,807 miles yet to go...
On the edge of the bald
David's Stats:
Days Hiked 3
Total Miles Hiked 18.9
Ave. Miles per Day 5.81
Total Elevation Gain 3,675
Ave. Elevation Gain per day 1,148
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