Rain has been
in the forecast ever since we got to North Carolina. Fortunately, it’s rained
mostly at night or late in the afternoon after we’ve had our outdoor
activities. Today (Memorial Day), it’s been raining since early this morning so
this is a good time to put some notes together for upload once we return to the
land of cellular reception.
George and
Roxanne are feeding us like we’ve never been fed before out on the road: full
breakfast, lunch and dinner is always served. They’ve also been great motivators
for getting us out on the hiking trails each day. Their property tends toward
the vertical, so each hike begins with a long uphill climb. We can also get our
cell phones to work if we get high enough onto a ridge.
In this rain
forest type of environment, everything always feels damp and it seems that
green plants and flowers grow everywhere. In fact, the roads we walk are rarely
used and it does not take long for them to become completely overgrown. We’ve
done a lot of climbing over fallen trees, dodging wild blackberry vines (very
thorny), and tiptoeing through stinging nettles.
Every so
often, at the higher elevations, we find wild azaleas, mountain laurel and
rhododendron in bloom. The azaleas, in particular, are striking because of the
contrast of their orange color with the many shades of green in the forest. The
eastern spotted salamander is also a standout with its bright orange color.
And, we came upon another snake (4 ½ foot king snake) right outside our trailer
– no screaming (by me, or Karen), so we must be getting used to being out in
nature!
The rewards
for the long uphill sections of the hikes include an all-downhill return trip,
cocktails on the deck, and stories around the campfire. Now that the long
holiday weekend is coming to an end, we’ll break camp and venture out and
around the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway for some camping at a
couple of George and Roxanne’s favorite spots.
Next: BRP and
AT
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