Posts Tagged ‘Blue Ridge Parkway’

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Scenic Sunday: Autumn on the Skyway

October 23, 2011

Autumn color on the Cherohala Skyway between North Carolina and Tennessee. October 25, 2009.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

Autumn in the mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina can be absolutely beautiful.  This time of the year Betsy and I thoroughly enjoy driving the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Cherohala Skyway.  We don’t make great time on our drives because we stop at every opportunity to enjoy the color, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Red and gold leaves of autumn. October 25, 2009.

These pictures, taken from my archives, show what autumn looks like along the Cherohala Skyway.

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Posted in Autumn | 11 Comments »

SkyWatch Friday: Virginia Skies

August 26, 2011

Devil's Backbone Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia. August 5, 2010.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

I feel I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past several days, so I went to my archives for this sky picture.

In August of last year Betsy and I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway north from Asheville, North Carolina, into Virginia.  The Parkway is one of our favorite drives, and we had a beautiful, but cloudy day.

When we stopped at the Devil’s Backbone overlook in Virginia, we found a beautiful blue hole in the clouds with sunlight streaming through.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 21 Comments »

Scenic Sunday: Above the Clouds (Sometimes)

August 7, 2011

Looking down on clouds from View John Rock overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. August 4, 2011.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

I took Betsy to Asheville, North Carolina, to celebrate her birthday.  Fortunately we both love that part of the country and are happy for any excuse to go there.  As usual, we were in no hurry, so we took the scenic route by getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Maggie Valley and taking that to Asheville.  It took much longer than the interstate would have taken, but the scenery was much more enjoyable.

Thursday started out partly cloudy, but as the afternoon wore on the skies became more and more overcast.  We found it hard to get good pictures until we got near View John Rock overlook (Milepost 419).  There we found we could look down on clouds in the valleys below us, as you can see from the picture above.

The view from Cherry Cove overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. August 4, 2011.

We stopped at the next several overlooks if we could see clouds below us.  This gave us a very pretty view, even if the day was cloudy.

Blue skies above low clouds in the valleys. August 4, 2011.

As we approached Mount Pisgah, breaks began to appear in the clouds overhead.  This allowed us to see blue skies and sun light above the clouds in the valley below.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 12 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: The Blue Ridge Parkway

May 26, 2011

In October, 2009, Betsy and I took the scenic route home from Maggie Valley, North Carolina, by taking the Blue Ridge Parkway from Maggie Valley to its southern terminus in the Smokies.  Although we were a little late to see the best of the autumn colors, the mountains were still a glorious sight, which we thoroughly enjoyed, stopping at just about every overlook on our way.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in Travels | 22 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: A Mountain Sky

December 3, 2010

The late afternoon sky at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. November 22, 2010.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

I really like the mountains, which is probably a good thing since I live in eastern Tennessee.  To me the mountains seem to be living — different in different seasons and even at different parts of the day.

The sky is a part of the mountain landscape.  Clouds and sky also change with the seasons and with the time of day.  The picture above was taken at Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway late in the afternoon on a November day.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 21 Comments »

Fun With Our Geotagger

December 2, 2010

Craggy Gardens, Craggy Pinnacle and Craggy Dome Overlook.

As many of you know, Betsy and I have a geotagger, which allows us to assign GPS coordinates to our photos.  Once the photos have been ‘tagged’, it’s possible to use Google Earth to show the location at which the picture was taken.

Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway, November 22, 2010.

On our way up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell, we stopped at Craggy Gardens Visitors Center to taken in the view.  The picture above of the Craggy Pinnacle Tunnel was taken from a small overlook across the parkway from the Visitors Center.

Burnett Reservoir, Buncombe County, North Carolina. November 22, 2010.

While there, I also took this picture of the Burnett Reservoir down in the valley below.  (This is the same picture I posted yesterday).

A late afternoon view from the Craggy Dome Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. November 22, 2010.

A late afternoon view from the Craggy Dome Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. November 22, 2010.

On our way back from Mount Mitchell we stopped at Craggy Dome Overlook to get this picture.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I enjoy seeing both the picture and its location.

 

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Posted in Technology | 14 Comments »

Watery Wednesday: Burnett Reservoir

December 1, 2010

Burnett Reservoir, Buncombe County, North Carolina. November 22, 2010.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

The lake in the picture above is Burnett Reservoir in Buncombe County, North Carolina.  The picture was taken from Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Burnett Reservoir is the source of water for Asheville, North Carolina.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 16 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 109: Autumn on the Parkway

August 15, 2010

View from the Fork Ridge Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. October 25, 2009.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

Although some parts of the country have gotten some relief from the impressive heat, that relief hanse’t reached the Plateau here in East Tennessee.  So I’m looking at pictures from other seasons hoping to feel a little cooler.

The picture above was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina this past October.  I like the mountain ridges receding into background.  The picture shows why these mountains are called the Blue Ridge.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 13 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Virginia Skies

August 13, 2010

Blue skies along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. August 5, 2010.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

On Betsy’s birthday last week we drove north along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia on our way to Betsy’s birthday surprise.  During the early part of the day the skies were blue with white clouds creating pretty pictures.

Stormy skies near Roanoke, Virginia. August 5, 2010.

But later in the day the clouds got lower and darker.  When we were north of Roanoke the rains came, as you can see in the picture above.

Sky at sunset, Peaks of Otter, Virginia. August 5, 2010.

We drove in wind and rain for a while, but the skies started to clear as we got near our destination, the Lodge at Peaks of Otter.  And sitting on the patio after dinner we were treated to beautiful skies as the sun set.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 25 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #100: Rakes Mill Pond

August 11, 2010

Rakes Mill Dam, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia. August 5, 2010.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

We celebrated Betsy’s birthday by traveling up to Virginia.  Although we travelled on the interstates early in the day, we moved over to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Floyd, Virginia.  Just about any stretch of the Parkway is beautiful and we stopped at a number of overlooks just to enjoy the view.

One of our first stops was at Rakes Mill Pond.  The pond was formed when a miller, Jarman Rakes, built a dam for his grist mill.  Rakes was something of a marketing genius — he allowed his customers to fist for brook trout while waiting for their grist.

Rakes Mill Pond, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia. August 5, 2010.

Much of the pond has filled in over two hundred years, but the pond is still large enough to capture the reflections of trees and clouds.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 17 Comments »

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