By Amber Deen
More Visitors than ever
You can bet on it. This year's leaf "peeping" visitor season is going to be more popular than ever, according to the Asheville newspaper. "North Carolina's forests are hot - and it has nothing to do with fire," began the front page story in Last Wednesday's Asheville Citizen-Times.
A residual visitor onslaught from the movie "The Hunger Games," which was filmed in these mountains, and national coverage in one of the biggest cycling magazines, "Bike," has helped make our forests a hot commodity."People are coming from all over the country," said one of the owners of Hunger Games Fan Tours, which began in April and takes people on walking tours to the filming sites. The tours are sold out for the rest of the year.
Of course, people with no interest in the film are drawn to the hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails, easy access to lush waterfalls, legendary backpacking destinations, and historic sites such as the Cradle of Forestry in America, the state's Mineral Museum, Grandfather Mountain, Lindville Falls, The Historic Orchard at Altapass that I wrote about in last week's blog, and Mount Mitchell State Park where the leaves put on their colorful fall mantel first.Mount Mitchell State Park
Our own Mount Mitchell State Park is the grandfather of North Carolina state parks, the oldest in the state park system, and hosts the greatest number of visitors.
It's website, www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/momi/main,php, says, "There are a few places in the world that still stand apart from the ordinary. Rising more than a mile high, surrounded by the gentle mist of low-hanging clouds, Mt. Mitchell State Park is one of those extraordinary places.
"In the crest of the timeworn Black Mountains (a cluster of mountains within the Blue Ridge Mountains) lies the summit of Mount Mitchell at an elevation of 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi. For those who ascend this mighty peak, what looms in the horizon is a feast for the eyes - breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, rolling ridges and fertile valleys. Forested and forever misty, 1,947-acre Mount Mitchell State Park will provide you with some of the most tranquil moments you'll ever experience."
How I can attest to that!I'll never forget the thrill I felt when I arrived from Florida May 21st ten summers ago to work in the ranger station/visitor center and the gift shop. I had driven through miles of shady forests ever upward. As I drove out of the trees past the rock entry pillars into the park and the sun, suddenly I was on a ridge at the top of the world! The earth had dropped out of sight on either side of me, the sky seemed to enfold me, and I could see forever. It felt as though it was a whole new world and I was the only one there.
Now as a child, my family had toured the mountains of the Alps in Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria, and I had lived in Hawaii with its craggy green velvet mountains, yet nothing was quite as breathtaking - literally - as that first vision of the world from Mount Mitchell.
In six months, I never lost that sense of wonder, that feeling of peace and belonging. and that everything was right with the world.
Every morning, very early, I'd walk the mile from the employee barracks down to the same open section of ridge in total silence, except for the birds - Black-Headed Juncos mostly - and marvel at the sunrise on clear mornings and the mist that filled the valleys making the peaks look like islands in a sea of white on misty mornings.
When it was really clear, I could count 13 distinct layers of mountains in ever lighter shades of blue, and feel rather than say, "Aah," over the eastern sky brushed with peach, lavender, violet, and pale yellow.
Misty mornings held a different attraction. Looking west, the mist would actually spill over the Blue Ridge Parkway where it curved around the crest of Pensacola Valley 6,684 feet below. The falling mist was so wide and dense, and moving so fast, it looked for all the world like Niagara Falls. It was one of the must unusual and riveting sights I ever saw.The evening sunsets on the west side of the ridge were just as spectacular as the morning sunrises to the east, and after a long, busy day, after all the vehicles and visitors had gone, as calming as cuddling a purring cat.
Of course there are other wondrous things to see and do on Mount Mitchell. The restaurant, originally built as a ski lodge between the ranger station/visitor center and the summit, has a bank of windows with an eastern vista to enjoy with your meal.
At the summit is a picnic area, a fascinating hands-on museum, a gift shop with made-in-the-Carolinas souvenirs, and a snack shop with hot chocolate and hot apple cider, very popular on cold, windy days.
The viewing tower at the tip top has pictures in each north, south, east and west direction of the peaks and their elevations, so that even on days when you can't see a thing in the distance, you know what's there!
Park rangers have free programs throughout each day and in the campground at night that tell you all about the bears and other wildlife.
NC High Peaks Trail Association
The Cove at Celo Mountain
Of course, there are some beautiful trails that we'd like to take you on, and picnic spots here and there beside the mountain creek that runs down through The Cove.
Take advantage of these magical mountains during this most magical time of the year. Inspire your sense of wonder. Call The Cove at 866 378-4769 to learn more about our Mountain Renewal Getaway offer.
Terrell House Bed & Breakfast
Laura and Mike Hoskins will be your hosts at Terrell House, which once was a dorm for the Presbyterian school in the early 1900's. There are six beautifully appointed rooms, five with queen size beds and one with twin beds, and all with a private bath and a sitting area. See your room choices at www.terrellhousebandb.com. And with the surge of visitors to the are, it would be wise to make reservations now.
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