Yesterday, I visited an old friend, the North Carolina Mountains. I took a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I took it from US 421 in Deep Gap (around mile 278) to VA 8 in the Rock Castle Gorge region (around Mile 170). It took about six hours to drive the 108 or so miles. Why because I stopped at a lot of the overlooks to hike or take photos. I took 209 photos on this trip. Here are some of the ones I liked the most.
The Cascades: There's a stop withing E.B. Jeffress State Park with a short hike to a waterfall simply known as 'The Cascades". It's a great spot for photos and to forget about life for awhile.
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One of the great things about the Parkway are the vehicles that you find on it. Motorcycles are common place but so are classic cars.
View of Mt. Jefferson: Jefferson, NC is one of my favorite small towns in Ashe County. From the parkway, you are able to view the mountainous backdrop that shares its name.
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The Lump: Is known for sweeping views of the foothills below. At the lump there's a small trail to the top and it gives this view.
Doughton Park: One of my favorite stretches of the Parkway is through Doughton Park. There are numerous trails and overlooks, and my next journey to Northwest NC and the Parkway, I will be spending considerable time there.
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Devil's Garden Overlook: An awesome view here!
Mahogany Rock Overlook: I have a page on it already. I'm looking forward to improving the photos.
Bullhead Mountain Overlook: As you can tell in a number of photos. I experimented with various angles of adding the overlook information sign in the photo.
Puckett Cabin: Now in Virginia. Virginia starts of slow with overlooks and photo opportunities. In fact, for much of the southern part of Virginia, a local road parallels the Parkway. A neat little stop is Puckett's Cabin. It is the former home of Orlena Puckett who for most of her 102 served as a midwife. In fact, the year of her death - 1939, Ms. Puckett continue to perform that duty. Tragically, the 24 children that she would give berth to never survived infancy.
Mabry Mill: The last ten miles of the Parkway I was on in Virginia made the journey thoroughly enjoyable. First, a great setting of Mabry Mill. Took a number shots around the mill. Here's some highlights.
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Finally, the last overlook that I stopped at was the best. The overlook for Rock Castle Gorge was home to a large patch of butterflies. It was one of those pleasant and unexpected surprises that makes any trip worthwhile.
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I did gain two new Virginia Counties on this trip (Patrick and Floyd) along with a number of new routes. I also stopped at two covered bridges off of VA 8 north of Stuart. It was a great trip, the weather couldn't be better no humidity anywhere...with it in a warm upper 70s in the mountains and a just right mid 80s in the Piedmont.
I'll certainly get back to Doughton Park and more of the Parkway later this year
The Cascades: There's a stop withing E.B. Jeffress State Park with a short hike to a waterfall simply known as 'The Cascades". It's a great spot for photos and to forget about life for awhile.
The Lump: Is known for sweeping views of the foothills below. At the lump there's a small trail to the top and it gives this view.
Devil's Garden Overlook: An awesome view here!
I'll certainly get back to Doughton Park and more of the Parkway later this year
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