The Parkway will also close the section between U.S. Route 19, Milepost 455.7, to the end of the Parkway at U.S. Route 441 in Cherokee, NC, until April 15, 2012, to complete repairs on the Big Witch Tunnel, located at Milepost 461.

The Parkway appreciates the public’s understanding and patience of this long winter closure, without implementation of a signed detour, as these two very important tunnel safety projects are undertaken.  Be sure to see all of the most recent Parkway road closures.

View the detour map for this project.

The Historic Stone Guardwall Reconstruction Project (Milepost 217 to Milepost 245) involves 28 miles of the 469 mile-long Blue Ridge Parkway and contains 32,000 linear feet of historic rock masonry walls. A significant portion of the walls are severely deteriorated due to settlement and the effect of freeze-thaw cycles over the past 75 years. This project rehabilitates and reconstructs the most deficient wall sections.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is recognized worldwide as an international example of landscape design achievement. Designed and built to provide a leisurely recreational driving experience and showcase the scenic resources of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, this section of the Parkway displays the historic rock walls that line the motor road. Constructed during the late 1930s, these rock walls are now an important historic Parkway resource. Built in the rustic style used throughout other American national parks, the walls are a significant feature that defines the visual and historic character of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This project will restore the structural integrity and historic appearance of this important cultural resource.

Blue Ridge Parkway management regrets the inconvenience or delay these closures may cause Parkway visitors.

You can see all Blue Ridge Parkway road closures on Virtual Blue Ridge.

The detour will direct visitors off the Parkway north of the closure at Milepost 384.7 to US Route 74 north, then to I-40 west, then to NC Route 191 south and back to the Parkway at Milepost 393.6 where NC Route 191 passes under.  The detour is approximately 11.5 miles long and expected to take approximately 25 minutes to drive.  The Parkway will remain open between US Route 74 and US Route 25 for the duration of the project. (see below for turn-by-turn detour directions)

This Parkway closure is necessary for contractors to repair deteriorating conditions on the south approach of the bridge over Interstate 26.  Repairs are expected to be complete no later than Monday, December 5, 2011.

You can also see a list of all Parkway road closures on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Alternate Route Information
From US Route 74 (MP 384.7) to NC Route 191 (MP 393.6)

Southbound Traffic

• After passing Parkway Headquarters, turn right onto the Parkway ramp at US Route 74
• Follow ramp to stop sign, turn right onto US Route 74
• Turn right onto access ramp for I-40 West
• Take Exit 47 Brevard Road / NC Route 191, turn left at the top of the ramp
• Cross over I-26 and continue on NC Route 191
• Turn right on Parkway access ramp; return to Parkway at MP 393.6
• Turn right to continue South on the Parkway

Northbound Traffic

• At Parkway closure barricades at Milepost 393.6, turn left onto Parkway ramp
• Follow ramp to traffic light
• Turn left at traffic light onto NC Route 191
• Cross over I-26 and continue on NC Route 191
• Turn right onto I-40 East ramp and continue on I-40 East
• Take Exit 53A, US Route 74, turn right at the stop sign at the end of the ramp
• Cross under the Parkway and turn right onto the Parkway access ramp
• Turn right to continue North on the Parkway

It is mid-October and true to form the Parkway has peak color in many areas. It has come on very fast in the last week or so. Although it looks as if some areas will peak later in the month at lower elevations, this may be the best weekend to hit the Parkway to see fall color.

The north end from Rockfish Gap through the Peaks of Otter is certainly at peak color with brilliant yellows, oranges, deep scarlets, and reds being reported. South of Roanoke through Rocky Knob and in Mabry Mill, all the way down to the Blue Ridge Music Center is at peak color. Some rain this weekend may have brought some of the leaves down.

Higher elevations in North Carolina through Grandfather Mountain or south of Asheville may be beyond peak, but not without some great color remaining.

As always we recommend driving some distance on the Parkway so that you change elevation and north/south orientation to be sure to get the best view of fall color. It will be a crowded weekend on the Parkway so be careful and take your time visiting America’s Favorite Drive.

Enjoy October in the Mountains and visit some of the harvest time activities in our neighboring communities. Enjoy the view, but watch the Road.

Fall Color and Woodland Harvests

This field guide includes over 240 full-color photographs of fall trees, shrubs, leaves, and fruits, all clearly identified.

Weekly updates at 828-298-0398 will keep you informed of what’s being reported throughout the Parkway.

Click here for a list of Blue Ridge Parkway tree species and their colors.

Have a safe parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway Fall color report for October 13th, 2011. Typically, the Parkway experiences the much anticipated change in fall color around the middle of October. But remember that many factors contribute to variations in when and where the color will peak. The Parkway stretches 500 miles from North to South and meanders from East to West facing slopes. Most importantly, it varies in elevation from just under 650′ at James River in Virginia to over 6000′ south of Mt Pisgah in North Carolina.

So many visitors have been frustrated trying to get to one spot on one day hoping to find leaves in full color. A far better plan is to drive some distance on the Parkway changing elevations and the North/South orientation. If you do that around mid-to-late October then you will catch at least some of the pretty colors we are famous for. You may also choose to review the Virtual Blue Ridge Fall Color Report Archive where you can view the fall color reports from prior years.

In the Northern Districts of the Parkway in Virginia, there are pockets of good color throughout, although not peak color in any place currently. You can find a good mix of red and yellow and green on most slopes including Maples, Sour Gum, Dogwood, and Poplar.

At the Peaks of Otter in Virginia, look for colorful Dogwood, Sourwood, Sumac, Sassafras, Tulip Poplar and Birch.

Around the Blue Ridge Music Center near the North Carolina and Virginia state line, nice yellows coming from the Birch, Tulip Poplar, and Fraser Magnolia. Red is showing on Maples as well.

Lots of fall color reported in the Grandfather Mountain Corridor along with the fall wildflowers of Goldenrod and a variety of Asters. Things are changing fast around Mt Pisgah in the Asheville Corridor with peak color expected next week.

Beyond the French Broad and up to Mt Pisgah the color is nice and close to peak at about 4000′ in elevation.

Enjoy October in the Mountains and visit some of the harvest time activities in our neighboring communities. Enjoy the view, but watch the Road.

Fall Color and Woodland Harvests

This field guide includes over 240 full-color photographs of fall trees, shrubs, leaves, and fruits, all clearly identified.

Weekly updates at 828-298-0398 will keep you informed of what’s being reported throughout the Parkway.

Click here for a list of Blue Ridge Parkway tree species and their colors.

Have a safe parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Fall Gathering Days
Saturdays, October 8, 15, and 22
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Wood smoke and the smell of apple butter boiling signal fall. Come help with chores associated with the fall season, like making apple butter and making and drying fruits and vegetables. See other chores common to the area in the early 1900s such as wheel-making, chair-making, basket-making, and fiber arts demonstrations.

Mabry Mill Bands
Sundays, October 2-23
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Enjoy traditional string band music of the Carroll/Patrick/Floyd county areas. Bring a lawn chair and your flat footin’ shoes.

October 02 Mac Traynham and the Blue Ridge Thunderbirds
October 09 Mountain Ivy
October 16 South Fork Ramblers
October 23 Mountain Ivy

Author Book Signings
Saturday October 15 & 22 at the Gift Shop

Fall Color Special All October at the Restaurant
Chicken Pot Pie Dinner with spiced apples, fried green tomatoes, coffee or tea – $6.95

Corn Grinding and Mill Talks Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm
September 30 – October 30 and

Building a water-powered mill was Ed Mabry’s dream, and he accomplished it in innovative ways. Learn about this icon of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the role the mill and the Mabrys played in the community. See the grist mill in operation.

Halloween Party at Mabry Mill Restaurant
Ghosts and Goblins are welcome for Halloween haunting and special treats!!

Mabry Mill Restaurant and Gift Shop is open from 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week through the end of October.

For more information, contact: Mindy deCesar, (540) 745 9680 or Mabry Mill Restaurant, (276) 952-2947

The first weekend of October is upon us, and the mountain foliage, true to form, is beginning to make the transition to the color that brings so much attention here in the fall.  Typically the Parkway experiences that change in fall color around the middle of October, but many factors contribute to variations in where and when the color will peak.  The Parkway stretches almost 500 miles north to south.  It meanders from the east to west facing slopes.  Most importantly, it varies in elevation from just under 650 ft at James River in Virginia to over 6,000 ft south of Mt. Pisgah in North Carolina.

Many visitors have been frustrated trying to go to one spot on one day in October, hoping to find the leaves in full color.  A far better plan is to drive some distance on the Parkway, changing elevations and north/south orientation.  Anyone who does this around mid to late October will catch at least some of the peak color that we’re famous for.

In the northern most districts in Virginia, colors are definitely under way, although probably less than 20% showing right now.  Mainly showing are Dogwoods, Tulip Poplar, Virginia Creeper, Sourwood, Black Gum, and a few other species.  Mostly red and yellow colors are showing right now.  Try the section around Clark’s Gap at milepost 40 which is showing nicely along the road edge with color frosting to a rich green backdrop.  At the Peaks of Otter at milepost 80-90, visitors will find Dogwood, Sourwood, Sumac, Sassafras, Sour Gum, and as always Virginia Creeper and even some Poison Ivy which is nice and red.

Around the Blue Ridge Music Center near the North Carolina / Virginia state line, there is a touch of yellow coming from the Birch and Tulip Frasier, Magnolia, and some red splotches showing on Maples as well.  In the North Carolina district around Grandfather Mountain to Linville falls, the color is beginning to show on the mountainside, with elevation as always playing a big role.

Fall wildflowers are Sunflowers, Jewel Weed, Goldenrod, and purple and white Asters around the Julian Price Loop.  In the high elevations north of Asheville around Craggy Gardens and Mt. Mitchell, the color should be delightful this next week, perhaps even close to peak color.  The drive through the Asheville area will still be showing red Sourwood, Dogwood, maybe some early Maples, and even Virginia Creeper.

So enjoy October in the mountains, enjoy the harvest time activities in our neighboring towns, and as we always tell visitors, enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Click here for a list of Blue Ridge Parkway tree species and their colors.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Here in late September, the fields of the Parkway are full of Black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye Weed, Queen Anne’s Lace, Ironweed, Goldenrod, and some Butterfly Weed.  There are great displays of Cardinal Flower in a few wet areas.  The staff at the Peaks of Otter is reporting Ironweed and Jewel Weed, Woodland Sunflower, and Pink Turtlehead in addition to all the above species.

Some fall color is showing around milepost 80-90 with Dogwood, Sourwood, and Tulip Tree, along with Virginia Creeper and Sassafras.  A few striped Maple and Sweet Birch are also beginning to show some color.  The meadows and agricultural lands in the Rocky Knob/Mabry Mill area are showing nice displays of Joe-Pye Weed, Black-eyed Susan, Goldenrod, and even a few early signs as well of fall color here and there.

Touch-Me-Nots, Jewel Weed, Spotted Knapweed, Coreopsis, and Goldenrod are all common throughout the North Carolina section, especially around Price Lake.  From Linville Falls through Gillespie Gap around the Minerals Museum, look for Ox-eye Daisy, Phlox, Angelica, Jewel Weed, Yarrow, Ironweed, Coreopsis, and Black-eyed Susan, all common in this area.

Mountain Ash is coming in along around the Craggy Gardens area.  Things seem to be gearing up for a splendid fall showing.  Tall Coneflower, Fleabane, Ox-eye Daisy, and Goldenrod can be found on the Craggy Garden trails as well.  Blueberry bushes on the Pinnacle and Mountain Ash seem to attract visitor’s attention right now.  The beginning of fall color is also beginning to show around milepost 400 with Sourwoods and Dogwoods turning red as well.

As always, we remind you to drive carefully along the Parkway. Keep your eyes on the road as you enjoy the view. In a few weeks, more indications of fall color will be showing up with peaks commonly coming in early to mid-October.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

The OVNHT preserves and commemorates the route used by patriot militia in their 1780 campaign that led to victory over loyalist forces led by Major Patrick Ferguson at the key battle of Kings Mountain.  Working with a variety of partners, the National Park Service (NPS), as administrating agency for the trail, continues to identify trail segments and open them up for public use.  The newly opened 1.3-mile section of pathway is actually an original part of the route and is a roadbed that is centuries old.

On September 29, 1780, this section of historic roadway saw the passage of hundreds of patriot militia on horseback heading east through Hefner Gap and towards North Cove.  Led by Colonels John Sevier and Issac Shelby, these Overmountain men had come from frontier settlements in present day east Tennessee some days previously.  They would play a key role in the victory at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780.

In 2008, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina was able to purchase the 534 acre Rose Creek tract, preserving land which borders the Blue Ridge Parkway, as well as containing the newly certified OVNHT segment.  In April of this year, the land was conveyed to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, which has worked with NPS officials to have the trail section certified.

The event is free and open to the public.  Members of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association in period colonial dress will participate.

In the event of inclement weather, the program will be held at the nearby covered pavilion at the Historic Orchard at Altapass, located at Parkway milepost 328.3.

For further information, please contact OVNHT Superintendent, Paul Carson, at (864) 936-3477, or Blue Ridge Parkway Ranger, Jonathan Bennett, at (828) 765-1228.

It is mid-September and depending on your location you may find a few signs of fall color on some trees along the Parkway. This is just a reminder to the display that always arrives here in the mountains around the middle of October.  Generally the fields full with this time of year with Black-eyed Susan, Joe-Pye weed, Queen Anne’s Lace, Ironweed, Goldenrod and in some places great displays of Cardinal Flower in wet areas.

The staff at the Peaks of Otter in Virginia is spotting Ironweed, Jewel Weed, Woodland Sunflower, and Pink Turtlehead in addition to the above species.  The meadows and agricultural lands in the Rocky Knob/Mabry Mill area are showing nice displays of Joe-Pye Weed, Black-eyed Susan, Goldenrod, and even a few early signs of fall color here and there.

In North Carolina, around the Julian Price Lake loop trail, Touch-Me-Nots, Jewel Weed, Spotted Knapweed, Coreopsis, and Goldenrod are common.  Purple and white Asters are particularly nice on the trail around the lake.  From Linville Falls through Gillespie Gap at the Mineral Museum, look for Ox-eye Daisy, Phlox, Angelica, Jewel Weed, Yarrow, Ironweed, Coreopsis, and Black-eyed Susan.

Mountain Ash is coming on around the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center.  Things are gearing up for a splendid fall showing.  Tall Coneflower, Fleabane, and Ox-eye Daisy, Goldenrod, and White Snakeroot can be found on the Craggy trails as well.

As always, we remind you to drive carefully along the Parkway.  Keep your eyes on the road as you enjoy the view.  In a few weeks, more indications of fall color will be showing up with peaks commonly coming in early to mid-October.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Those who wish to review and comment on this document may do so by visiting the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/roanokevalleytrailplan. Even though using this website is recommended, written comments may also be submitted to:  Blue Ridge Parkway, ATTN:  Suzette Molling, 199 Hemphill Knob Road, Asheville, NC 28803.  Comments must be sent by September 12.  Ideas and concerns expressed by those who comment will be used to prepare the final proposal and impact analysis.

Comments are typically treated as a public record and made available for public review.  Individuals may request that the National Park Service withhold their name and address from disclosure.  Such requests will be honored to the extent allowable by law.

Comments will also be accepted at a Public Meeting to be held on Thursday, September 1, 2011. The public meeting will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Virginia’s Explore Park Visitor Center Auditorium, Milepost 115.1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Members of the public may stop by at any time during these hours to meet with Parkway staff and provide comments.

Professional and amateur photographers are officially invited to participate in this year’s Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition! Every year the competition gets more fierce as photographers from all over the world submit hundreds of entries for review. What will you be submitting this year?

There are a couple of new developments for this year’s comp that we’d like to make everyone aware of.

The prize for the Our Ecological Footprint category is larger than ever, totalling $450. Appalachian Voices will be furnishing $200 cash while Mast General Store will be contributing a prize package worth $250. That makes this category the 3rd largest prize! If you need inspiration on capturing imagery that shows negative impacts on the environment in Southern Appalachia please visit the Appalachian Voices website for the latest news.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s category, Blue Ridge Parkway — A Ribbon of Road, will focus on images of the Blue Ridge Parkway that incorporate some aspect of the roadway itself.

Please note that this year’s timeframe for submissions is a bit different as well. This year’s contest starts August 1, 2011 with a deadline for submissions on November 18, 2011.

As usual, please help us spread the word! We have press releases available on our Media  page, and this nifty banner that you can use on your own websites and blogs. If you’re promoting the comp on Twitter, please use the hashtag #appmtnphoto.

<a href=”http://www.appmtnphotocomp.org/”><img src=”http://www.appmtnphotocomp.org/images/banners/ampc-banner-9th-annual.gif” border=”0″ alt=”9th Annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition” width=”525″ height=”116″ /></a>

Remember that a portion of the proceeds raised from the AMPC support Outdoor Programs Student Learning Expeditions at Appalachian State University. SOLE trips take students around the world on educational journeys of discovery. Visit the Outdoor Programs website to learn more about this exciting program.

Thank you for your support this year and Happy Shooting!

Want to make sure the Blue Ridge Parkway gets that grant? Vote as many times as you can between now and September 6th, and be sure to tell your friends and family to vote too!

VOTE NOW!

The Doughton Park Campground and Brinegar Cabin are open and accessible by traveling the Parkway from the south.

Beginning the Spring of 2012, additional closures and detours will follow between Milepost 218 near Cumberland Knob and Milepost 230. The Bluffs Lodge and Coffee Shop will remain closed for the season.

The Historic Stone Guardwall Reconstruction Project will involve 28 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Milepost 217 to Milepost 245) that contain 32,000 linear feet of historic rock masonry walls. A significant portion of the walls are severely deteriorated due to settlement and the effect of freeze-thaw cycles over the past 75 years. This project rehabilitates and reconstructs the most deficient wall sections.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is recognized worldwide as an international example of landscape design achievement. Designed and built to provide a leisurely recreational driving experience and showcase the scenic resources of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, this section of Parkway displays the historic rock guide walls that line the motor road.

Constructed during the late 1930s, these rock walls are now an important historic Parkway resource. Though built in the rustic style used throughout other American national parks, the walls have become a significant feature that defines the visual and historic character of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This project will restore the structural integrity and historic appearance of this important cultural resource.

Blue Ridge Parkway management regrets the inconvenience or delay this closure may cause Parkway visitors.

This is the Blue Ridge Parkway Wildflower report for mid-July.  Around the Peaks of Otter in Virginia, visitors will probably find Jewelweed, Butterfly Weed, St. John’s Wort, Butterfly Pea, Common Milkweed, Yarrow, Black Cohosh, Woodland Sunflower, and Deptford Pink, all of which are common summer varieties here in the Blue Ridge.

Throughout the plateau district, which extends from Roanoke to the North Carolina state line, summer blooms are prolific with Black-eyed Susan, Queen Anne’s Lace, Coreopsis, and the bright orange Butterfly Weed common throughout.  Rosebay Rhododendron is also very nice right now.

In the Grandfather Mountain area in North Carolina, look for Yarrow, Queen Anne’s lace, and lots of Rosebay Rhododendron blooming along the roadsides of the Parkway.  Spiderwort, Phlox, and Morning Glory are common in the Moses Cone area, along with Turk’s-cap Lily and St. John’s Wort.  Coreopsis is also in bloom in many areas throughout.

In the high elevations north of Asheville, Rosebay Rhododendron is in bloom along with some new displays of Bee Balm popping out along the higher elevations from around milepost 360 to 370.  Wild Bergamot is starting to show also.  These should provide a colorful drive for the next month.

St. John’s Wort is thick from milepost 355 to 360.  There are nice displays of Butterfly Weed right around milepost 380 and again close to the Parkway Visitor’s Center in Asheville.  Wild Hydrangea are on display in the Asheville area, Black-eyed Susan, Ox-eye Daisy are more prominent each day.

The Parkway is a beautiful and cool place to spend a July weekend or anytime in the summer, but it’s not like most other roads. Please take some special precautions while driving.  Above all, slow down, take your time, and use the overlooks to let other traffic that backs up behind you get by.  As we often tell visitors, enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Around the Peaks of Otter in Virginia, visitors will probably find lots of Jewel Weed and Butterfly Weed, St. John’s Wort, Common Milkweed, Yarrow, Black Cohosh, and Woodland Sunflower, all of which are common summer varieties here in the Blue Ridge.

Through the plateau district, which extends from Roanoke to the North Carolina state line, summer blooms are prolific with Black-eyed Susan, Queen Anne’s Lace, Coreopsis and the bright orange Butterfly Weed common throughout.

In North Carolina, in the Grandfather Mountain area, look for Yarrow, Queen Anne’s Lace, and lots of Rosebay Rhododendron blooming along the Parkway. Spiderwort, Phlox, and Morning Glory are common in the Moses Cone area, along with Turk’s-cap Lily and St. John’s Wort. Coreopsis is also in bloom in many areas throughout.

In the high elevation north of Asheville, Rosebay Rhododendron is in bloom along with new displays of Bee Balm popping out along the higher elevations from milepost 360 to 370. Wild Bergamot is starting to show also.

St. John’s Wort is thick from milepost 355 to 360 and there are nice displays of Butterfly Weed right around milepost 380 and again close to the Parkway visitor’s center in Asheville. Wild Hydrangea is on display in the Asheville area. Black-eyed Susan, Ox-eye Daisy seems to be more prominent each day.

The Parkway is a beautiful place to spend your holiday weekend, or anytime in the summer, but it’s not like most other roads. Please take some special precautions while driving. Above all, slow down, take your time, and use the overlooks to let other traffic that backs up behind you get by. As we often tell visitors, enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Mid-summer is a great time for blooms here in the Blue Ridge, and remember that your elevation change can make a great deal of difference in what you find blooming along the roadside or down your favorite trail.  If you think you’ve missed a favorite bloom at one favorite spot, head up the mountain and you may find it still on display.

In the Peaks of Otter area, north of Roanoke, Daylily, Butterfly Weed, and common St. John’s Wort are being reported.  Milkweed, Yarrow, Ox-eye Daisy, and Daisy Fleabane are common summertime blooms and are also nicely on display throughout this area.  Don’t miss Black-eye Susan and Woodland Sunflower as well.  The Rosebay Rhododendron, which is the white to pink bloom, is popping nicely in the area of Rocky Knob south through the Blue Ridge Music Center area down to the state line.  Nice displays of the bright orange Butterfly Weed area also showing in this area of the Parkway.

In North Carolina, around the Linville Viaduct Visitor’s Center, you’ll find Bee Balm, Fly Poison, and nice displays of Black-eyed Susan along milepost 297 to 299 and again at milepost 304.  Rosebay Rhododendron is nicely in bloom in many areas around the Cone Estate, and look for St. John’s Wort, Sundrop, and a few remaining Fire Pink.

The far southern end of the Parkway is recovering from some nasty storms lately.  Flowers are still popping up in bloom in many areas.  Look for Fly Poison, and Galax, Purple-Fringed Orchid, Bee Balm, Turk’s-cap Lily, Sundrop, Phlox, and Wild Hydrangea.

The Parkway is a beautiful place to spend your summer, but it’s not like most other roads. Take some special precautions while driving. Above all, slow down, take your time, and use the overlooks to let traffic that backs up behind you get by.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Summer is a great time for blooms here in the Blue Ridge and remember that your elevation change can make a great deal of difference in what you find blooming along the roadsides or maybe down your favorite trail.  If you think you’ve missed a favorite bloom at a favorite spot, head up the mountain and you may find it still on display.

In the Peaks of Otter area, in Virginia, around milepost 80-86, Day Lilly is especially nice right now.  A little further south, look for the bright orange Butterfly Weed, St. John’s Wort, Canada Lily, Milkweed, Yarrow, Ox-eye Daisy, Daisy Fleabane, and Black-eyed Susan.  The Rosebay Rhododendron, the larger white or pink blooming variety, is blooming south of Roanoke to the North Carolina state line and is perhaps nicest through the Mabry Mill area.  Many areas of North Carolina are reporting some remaining Flame Azalea, causing some visitor comments along the way.

In general, look for Sundrop, Columbine, Phlox, Fire Pink, Wild Hydrangea, and Black Cohosh, especially between Parkway headquarters in Asheville and the Craggy Gardens Visitor’s Center.

The Parkway is a beautiful place to spend your summer, but it’s not like most other roads.  Take some special precautions while driving.  Above all, slow down, take your time, and use the overlooks to let traffic that backs up behind you get by.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Early summer is a great time for blooms here in the Blue Ridge. Remember that your elevation change can make a great deal of difference in what you find blooming along the roadside or down your favorite trail.  If you think you’ve missed your favorite bloom at a favorite spot, just head up the mountain and you may find it still on display.

In Virginia through the Peaks of Otter area and across the high elevation of Apple Orchard Mountain look for Mountain Laurel, Columbine, Wild Bergamot, and perhaps a few remaining Catawba Rhododendron.  Bowman’s Root, Yarrow, and Common Milkweed may be on display as well.  Daisy Fleabane, Ox-eye Daisy are very common throughout this area.  Around the Peaks of Otter, look closely for some remaining Fire Pink.

From Rocky Knob down to the Virginia/North Carolina state line you may find Laurel, Catawba, Yarrow, some Fire Pink, Ox-eye Daisy and Elderberry in bloom.  In North Carolina there are reports of Mountain Laurel at Trout Lake and Fire Pink, Spiderwort, Daisy and Coreopsis around milepost 273.  And some great Flame Azalea displays at milepost 274.  Look for St. John’s Wort at Sim’s Pond overlook.  If you’re driving the Parkway in North Carolina from Linville Falls out to Gillespie Gap, look for some displays of Mountain Laurel, Flame Azalea, Fire Pink, Columbine, and especially in the meadows behind Crabtree Falls campground.

In high elevations around Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell in North Carolina there are still some Rhododendron on display.  South of Mount Pisgah, reports of Catawba Rhododendron are common.  Some remaining Mountain Laurel and Flame Azalea also are evident in the high elevations.  Graveyard Fields to Devil’s Courthouse is very pretty right now with Laurel and Rhododendron.  Other things you may find as you drive along this area of the Parkway are Fire Pink, Goat’s Beard, Fly Poison, Spiderwort, Sundrops, False and True Solomon’s Seal.

Obviously the Parkway is a beautiful place to spend your summer but it’s not like other roads so take some time and special precautions while driving.  Above all, slow down and take your time.  Use the overlooks to let traffic that backs up behind you get by.

Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.

For more nature and science information, visit our virtual resource center, http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway/general/nature.asp, which will provide you with much more information.

Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.

Around the Peaks of Otter in Virginia, look for great displays of Mountain Laurel and Catawba Rhododendron along the roadsides from mile post 80 to 82.  Golden Alexander, Yarrow, Beard Tongue, Bowman’s Root, and Ox-eye Daisy are beautiful as well.  Some Fire Pink is still in bloom around milepost 86 to 88.  Laurel and Azalea, Spiderwort, Rhododendron and some Foam Flowers are showing in the section of the Parkway between Rocky Knob to Mabry Mill.

Read the full Wildflower Report for June 7th, 2011 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Snowman greets Blue Ridge Parkway visitors at Soco Gap

You won’t find any motorcycles on the Blue Ridge Parkway this time of year. Cars either.   The road’s been closed to winter traffic for a while now if it’s on wheels.

That doesn’t mean there is a lack of visitors.  Even when blanketed in snow you’ll find people out enjoying the road. Sledding, skiing, on snowshoes or in winter boots, plenty drive to the nearest cross road and set out to enjoy the seasons scenery and solitude.

At times snow piles deep along the high ridge tops. Icy beards grow on the rocky faces. Every trickling stream is framed with frozen adornments. Clear winter air yields landscapes of hillsides sketched in black, white, gray, and brown. Even the sky pales, never reaching the deepest blues of summer. You can appreciate both the harshness and the softness that winter brings to this exclusive landscape.

Skis or snowshoes - you'll find both enjoying the snow on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I’m grateful to note the days are getting longer. While some of the lower sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway will open from time to time, here in western North Carolina there’s nothing but to wait it out and enjoy the road as best you can in the mean time.

Ski it when the snows come. Hike it when it’s clear. Watch for those signs of spring and keep the motorcycle ready to go!

Tanglewood Barnes and Noble Book Store

Roanoke, Virginia

Saturday December 4, 2010

1 pm

Retired National Park Ranger and author Bruce W. Bytnar will be at The Tanglewood Barnes and Noble in Roanoke, Virginia to personalize and sign copies of his book A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty Two Years Protecting Our National Parks.

Read this book to learn what it is like to be a National Park Ranger, what threats are faced daily by visitors and resources in our parks, what you can do to help protect our parks, and make your next visit a safe one.

A Park Ranger’s Life has been adopted as required reading at Northern Arizona University, Ohio State, and Slippery Rock University for those students studying to become park rangers.  Many other colleges are listing the book as recommended reading for students.  These academic institutions have selected this book based on the entertaining, accurate, and honest depiction of the rewards, challenges, and frustrations of a career as a National Park Ranger.

“Our board is unanimous in expressing deep appreciation for Houck’s and K.B’s (his wife) perseverance over the years in creating and growing our foundation so that citizens and organizations can have a tax deductible conduit through which they can contribute in a meaningful way to enhancing the Blue Ridge Parkway,” Shepherd said.

In 1997, Medford and a group of civic leaders organized the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation in Winston-Salem after Medford retired from a successful dental practice. The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the primary private fundraising organization for the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Foundation has provided more than three-million dollars in endowments and direct allocations for projects and programs which enhance the visitors’ experience and help preserve the Blue Ridge Parkway’s scenic, cultural and environmental quality.

Over the past few years, the foundation has contributed to numerous capital improvements along the Parkway, including renovation of the North Carolina Mineral Museum, preservation of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, improvements at Graveyard Fields and other projects.

Parks As Classrooms is one of the flagship programs funded by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. This program instills values of Parkway protection, history, ecology and culture among students in all 29 Virginia and North Carolina Parkway counties where the program is presented.

Now in its third year, the Foundation’s “Kids in Parks” program is a special initiative to combat childhood obesity and to engage children and their families with our national parks. The sponsorship of special Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation license tags in North Carolina generates around a half-million dollars a year for the parkway’s benefit and is the most popular specialty tag in the state.

Dr. Ward joined the foundation in 2008 as the first director of the Kids in Parks program and became president and chief operating officer in March of this year. Before joining the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, The Wytheville, Virginia native taught at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California for nearly ten years. An award winning researcher and author, she is the editor of the National Association of Interpretation Journal for Interpretation Research. She received her master and doctorate degrees in outdoor recreation from Virginia Tech.

For more information:

• Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
• Kids in Parks
• Virtual Blue Ridge Parkway Guide

Look for Virginia Creeper throughout the northern sections of the Parkway with vines hanging their scarlet necklaces around trees and rocks. Rocky Knob and Mabry Mill area were probably peak this past weekend but lots of color remains. Dogwood and Poplar are also pretty along with Sassafras along the roadsides in areas near the Blue Ridge Music Center. The color there is beginning to fade some. Sourwood, Poplar, Dogwood, Birch, and Beech  . . .

Click here to continue reading this color report on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Guidewall Replacement at Milepost 243 with Survey Reference Marker

Constructed in the 1930’s, the rock masonry guide walls that line the Blue Ridge Parkway are a significant feature defining the historic and visual character of the Parkway.  This project involves the rehabilitation of 32,000 linear feet of guidewalls from Milepost 417 to 425.  This project is confined to the area of Doughton Park, near Sparta, NC.  A significant portion of these walls has deteriorated due to settlement and the freeze thaw cycles over the last 75 years.  This project rehabilitates and reconstructs the most deficient wall sections and will restore the structural integrity and the historic appearance of this important cultural resource.

Parts of Doughton Park will be closed consistently through early season of 2012.

Fall is still a time for wildflower displays. Goldenrod and Asters are along the roadside with fall blooms such as Black-eyed Susan, Coreopsis, Joe-Pye Weed, and the orange Turk’s-cap Lily. It’s a wonderful time of year for many meadows and roadsides to show off the last of the year’s blooms.

In Virginia the Peaks of Otter is reporting color in Tulip Poplar, Dogwood, and Sourwood on the mountainside. A variety of Oaks and . . .

Click here to continue reading this color report on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Fall is still a month for wildflower displays as Goldenrod and Astor are along the roadsides along with some fall blooms such as Black Eyed Susan, Coreopsis, Joe-Pye Weed and that orange Turks Cap Lily. This is indeed a wonderful time of year for many meadows and roadsides to show off the last of the year’s blooms.

Early signs of fall are present throughout most of the mid-elevations of the Parkway. The Dogwoods have assumed that rusty red and

Click here to continue reading this color report on Virtual Blue Ridge.

September may not seem like a time for wildflowers but the meadow blooms are, to many visitors, among the best of the year. Cooler temperatures and the yearly hawk migration along the spine of the mountains are other reasons to visit the Parkway in September.

Butter and Eggs, Black Eyed Susan, Woodland Sunflower, Ox-Eyed Daisy, Coreopsis and Goldenrod all light up the roadside and meadows with a variety of shades of yellow. New York Ironweed is that deep purple, tall bloom that is sometimes standing next to the more pale Joe-Pye Weed in damp or boggy areas.

Purple-Headed Coneflower may add another shade of purple in a few places. If you notice the very bright red flower growing in boggy wet areas you’ve almost certainly spotted the Cardinal Flower, a favorite of many folks this time of year in the mountains.

On the north end of the Parkway around Humpback Rocks, Virgins Bower, Spotted Touch Me Not, Black Eyed Susan, Flowering Spurge, Goldenrod and many other late summer blooms are out.

Click here to finish reading this wildflower report on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Naturally many of them come to the Parkway where cooler temperatures and late summer blooms in the meadows are their reward.Here’s the latest of things to look for in virtually every district or every section of the Parkway.

Butter and Eggs, Black Eyed Susan, Woodland Sunflower, Ox-Eye Daisy, Coreopsis, and Goldenrod all light up the roadside and meadows with a variety of shades of yellow.

New York Ironweed is the deep purple tall bloom sometimes standing next to a paler Joe-Pye Weed in damp or boggy areas. Purple Headed Coneflower may. . .

Read the full Wildflower Report for 9/3/2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

In 2005 a contactor was given the job of examining the bicycle use on The Blue Ridge Parkway and the feasibility of building a bike trail along 469 mile length of the park.  Although cycling is commonly found anywhere on the Parkway the study conducted by David Evans and Associates found that most of the day use was concentrated in four areas.

Waynesboro :: Mile Post 0 – 14

Roanoke :: Mile Post 105 – 121

Boone/Blowing Rock :: Mile Post 270 – 305

Asheville :: Mile Post 375 – 398

The Study’s look at the possibility of constructing a multi-use or bicycle trail along the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway found that in only 20% of the park would it be physically practicable for such construction.  The majority of this would be in the Roanoke area.  Such construction would take millions of dollars and at present there are no plans to even plan such a major project.

Watch for future blog entries with more information on bicycle use on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On the northern end near Humpback Rocks typical summer blooms of Goldenrod, Butter and Eggs, Woodland Sunflower, Black Eyed Susan, Ox-Eyed Daisy, and Queen Anne’s Lace are all very evident. Morning Glory and Purple Headed Coneflower and a few Cardinal Flowers are being reported on the farm at Humpback. At the picnic area, Heal All and Yarrow are also common.

Many of the same species are found around the Peaks of Otter, Yarrow and Black Eyed Susan, Woodland Sunflower, Joe-Pye Weed and Appalachian Bellflower. Virgin’s Bower and Bull Thistle are also common. Look for the pale Touch Me Not between Milepost 80 and 85 and Butterfly Weed around Milepost 90.

Read the full wildflower report for 8/20/2010 at Virtual Blue Ridge.

On the far northern end of the Parkway near Humpback Rocks, Joe-Pye Weed, Morning Glory, Woodland Sunflower, Black Eyed Susan, Ironweed, and Queen Anne’s Lace are all very common.

Stroll through the picnic area at Humpback Rocks and enjoy the Yarrow and Heal All in bloom there. In the Rocky Knob/ Mabry Mill area, Milkweed and. . .

Read the full wildflower report for 8/6/2010 at Virtual Blue Ridge.

Want to make sure the Blue Ridge Parkway gets that grant? Vote as many times as you can between now and August 31, and be sure to tell your friends and family to vote too!

VOTE NOW!

North of Roanoke, Virginia, which includes Peaks of Otter and the high elevations across Apple Orchard Mountain, visitors will find Milkweed, Yarrow, Ox-Eye Daisy, Tall Coreopsis, Queen Anne’s Lace, Black Eyed Susan, Woodland Sunflower and Tall Bellflower.

Visiting Mabry Mill or Rocky Knob you’re likely to find Butterfly Weed, Milkweed, Heal All, Jewelweed, New York Ironweed, Coreopsis, Deptford Pink and the beautiful tall Turks Cap Lily.

Spotted Knapweed and Joe-Pye Weed are new blooms this weekend around Mabry Mill. Rosebay Rhododendron is still showing some blooms but on the decline.

To find out what’s blooming in North Carolina and to read the full Wildflower Report for 7/23 visit Virtual Blue Ridge.

On the north end of the Parkway through the Humpback Rocks area look for Woodland Sunflower, Milkweed, Yarrow, Black Eyed Susan, Fleabane, Ox-Eye Daisy, Queen Anne’s Lace, Viburnum, Goldenrod, Columbine and the bright orange Butterfly Weed. Many of these same species are blooming in the beautiful picnic area at Milepost 5.8.

Through the Peaks of Otter area, look for many of the same species. In addition Milkweed, Tall Coreopsis, and Wild Bergamot are showy right now. Visiting Mabry Mill or Rocky Knob look for. . .

Read the full wildflower report for 7/16/2010 at Virtual Blue Ridge.

The Peaks of Otter is within the Ridge District of the Parkway where Mr. Bytnar retired as District Ranger in 2008.  The event will start at 4pm and will be located in the lobby of the Lodge.

Friday evenings the Lodge serves their well known buffet in the main dining room. The Lodge has rooms available and the campground across Abbott Lake are available for overnight guests.  The opportunities for great food, breathtaking scenery, hiking trails, and good reading and conversation could make this an enjoyable evening to remember.

For more information you can contact the Peaks of Otter Lodge at 1 800 542 5927.

On the north end of the Parkway through the Humpback Rocks area look for Woodland Sunflower, Milkweed, Yarrow, Black-Eyed Susan, Ox-Eye Daisy, Queen Anne’s Lace, Viburnum, Goldenrod, Columbine, and Butterfly Weed. Many of these same species are blooming in the beautiful picnic area at Milepost 8.5.

Around Rocky Knob and Mabry Mill, many of the same species are blooming in addition to Jewel Weed, Ironweed, Deptford Pink and Spiderwort. The large white Rosebay Rhododendron is also starting to show up nicely in this area. Farther south near the Blue Ridge Music Center find Ox-Eye Daisy and. . .

Click here to read the full report on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Funding through a partnership with Nature Valley, the National Park Foundation, and the National Park Service is now making this trail possible.  Work is being done by The Blue Ridge Parkway’s Maintenance Staff with assistance from a crew provided by the Student Conservation Corps (SCA).  Footers are now being placed to support a boardwalk along one edge of Abbott Lake.  Once completed persons confined to wheelchairs or unsure of their footing will be able to venture away from the paved parking lots and sidewalks of the Peaks of Otter Lodge and travel through the forest and field edge of Abbott Lake.  This area is abundant in wildlife such as whitetail deer, birds, bear, and frogs.

 The trail will be completed in sections with the first part hoping to be available by this fall.

Today at 12:00 noon ET, the National Park Service opened the last closed stretch of the scenic roadway near Asheville, NC from MP 399 at Bad Fork Valley Overlook to MP 405.5 near NC Route 151.  This section of the Parkway had been closed since October 2009 because of a potential rock slide.  Only one lane has opened, but the Parkway can now be travelled from end to end again, detour free.  A traffic light will help control the flow of traffic. 

During the construction, Parkway travelers had to take a 40 minute detour to get around the unsafe area.  Both lanes of this area are scheduled to be open around the beginning of September, just in time for Labor Day weekend.  This is especially helpful for travel during the fall leaf season which attracts hundreds of thousands of sight-seers each year.  In the Blue Ridge region, peak fall color activity occurs in early October.

This year has been a difficult one for Parkway travelers.  Following a Christmas Day ice storm in 2009, most of the roadway in North Carolina had been closed.  Contractors and volunteers have worked diligently for half of 2010 to clean up debris, fallen trees, and potential rockslides.  Clean-up will continue for months along the roadside, but maintenance officials only foresee occasional traffic delays.

Because of the 2009 ice storm, potential rockslides, and various construction projects preparing for the 75th Anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, this is the first time that the Parkway has been open for uninterrupted travel in 18 months.  It will be nice for Parkway visitors to have all 469 miles open for travel again.

The Parkway is a beautiful place to spend your summer but it’s not like most other roads so take some time and precautions while driving. Slow down and enjoy the view, use the overlooks to let traffic that may back up behind you get by. And as we often tell visitors, enjoy the view but watch the road.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States noted for its scenic beauty. The Parkway winds for 469.1 miles (755 km) from the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive in Virginia to U.S. 441 at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, NC. It runs through the famous Blue Ridge Mountains, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. There is no fee for using the Blue Ridge Parkway.

For more information on the Blue Ridge Parkway, including Parkway maps, a virtual tour, news & events, and more visit VirtualBlueRidge.com.

Purple Catawba Rhododendron has just about finished its bloom this year except for a few remaining at higher elevations. Rosebay Rhododendron, a much larger variety with white to cream colored or pink blossoms, is coming out in many places right now. Rosebay is especially noticeable in Virginia south of Roanoke to the North Carolina state line.

In Virginia through the Peaks of Otter area look for Milkweed, Yarrow, Daisy Fleabane, Ox-Eye Daisy, tall Coreopsis, Queen Anne’s Lace, Day Lily, and Black-Eyed Susan.

Click here to read the complete Wildflower Report for June 29th, 2010.

Here is a video of the entire program:

“America’s Favorite Journey” is the latest episode in the WRAL documentary series called Focal Point. These in-depth news documentaries focus on a single topic, bringing depth and clarity to complicated issues facing North Carolina. From North Carolina’s economy and environment, to health care and race relations – Focal Point takes viewers inside the lives of the people most affected. Focal Point tackles the tough questions with leaders and policymakers who have the power to effect change.

The meadows in the James River area, especially as you cross the river on the south side and begin heading for Peaks of Otter, are just filled with Queen Anne’s Lace and Black-Eyed Susan. It’s a beautiful site right now.

Climbing across Apple Orchard Mountain look out for some Mountain Laurel, Wild Bergamot, Milkweed, Yarrow, Loose Strife, and Daisy Fleabane all in bloom. Coreopsis, Trumpet Vine and Thimble Weed may also be spotted.Some Fire Pink is still visible in the Peaks of Otter area, along with Butterfly Weed and Deptford Pink.

From Rocky Knob to the North Carolina/ Virginia state line look for Ox-Eye Daisy, Black-Eyed Susan, Fleabane Daisy, and Fire Pink all in bloom. The bright orange Butterfly Weed and Day Lily are especially nice right now. In North Carolina around the Grandfather Mountain corridor many. . .

Click here to read the full Wildflower Report for June 21, 2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

In Virginia through the Peaks of Otter area and across the high elevation of Apple Orchard Mountain look for Mountain Laurel and Columbine and Wild Bergamot. Bowman’s Root, Yarrow and Common Milkweed may be on display as well.

Daisy Fleabane and Ox Eye Daisy are very common throughout this area. Around the Peaks of Otter look closely for some remaining Fire Pink. In the Rocky Knob area down to the Virginia/ North Carolina State Line look for Laurel in bloom and Catawba Trees, Yarrow, some Fire Pink, Ox Eye Daisy, and Elderberry. . .

Click here to read the full Wildflower Report for June 11th, 2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

On the very north end of the Parkway between Rockfish Gap and Humpback Rocks there are tremendous displays of Mountain Laurel that line the roadway in many areas.

Elsewhere in Virginia across Apple Orchard Mountain the Rhododendron is in full bloom along with Yarrow, Milkweed, Bowman’s Root, Loose Strife, Ox-Eye Daisy, Tall Meadow Rue and Clover. Tulip Poplar and Mountain Ash are also out right now and some bright red Fire Pink is still on display around Peaks of Otter, milepost 86 to 87.

Keep reading to find out what’s blooming in North Carolina.

Read the full Wildflower Report for 6/4/2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

The Blue Ridge Parkway story aired Sunday, May 16th, during which several Parkway destinations were highlighted. Below is a video recording from The Today Show’s website. I hope you enjoy it!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Story by Randy Johnson

May will offer High Country trail enthusiasts critical opportunities to help Blue Ridge Parkway paths reopen for the summer travel season after last winter’s damaging storms.

The Parkway is staging two late May volunteer days when local hikers can come out and help reopen the Tanawha Trail, still covered with storm debris and impassable in places from Grandfather Mountain to Price Park.

Saturday May 15 and May 22, the National Park Service will commit two chainsaw-certified employees each Saturday in hopes of having two brush-clearing crews working at a time.

The Watauga Tourism Development Authority, organizers of the recently successful High Country Outdoor Summit, is supporting the effort and is asking volunteers to sign up in advance, preferably with an e-mail to WTDA planner Eric Wooldridge (eric@exploreboonearea.com, or 828-266-1345).

To read more about trail cleanup efforts and how you can help please visit Virtual Blue Ridge.

These park rangers show up with unbounded enthusiasm and with many hopes.  It is energizing for year round employees to see new seasonal rangers arriving for training.  Their passion is contagious and they show up anxious to start their work helping to educate and protect visitors.  When you visit a National Park it is most likely that the park ranger you meet will be a seasonal employee. 

Seasonal park rangers come from a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience.

There are the college students working in the parks for the summer to gain experience and help pay for school.  Many are hopeful of future opportunities that could develop into full time permanent National Park Service employment.

There are teachers who escape the classroom to the outdoors to refresh their outlook on life, supplement their meager income, and grow in ways that can provide enhanced experiences that can be brought back to the classroom.

Increasingly you will find retirees from a first career now working in National Parks as seasonal park rangers.  Many are taking advantage of this opportunity to live a dream they have had since childhood of working as a park ranger.

Returning military veterans will also be found working as seasonal park rangers attempting to establish themselves back in civilian life and perhaps start a new career.

There are many others who will work this summer as seasonal park rangers.  They all share the sense of adventure and dedication that is necessary to achieve the mission of the National Park Service to preserve and protect our nation’s resources for future generations.

Thanks seasonals for all you do.

Mr. Bytnar spent 27 years as a park ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway working in three districts in both North Carolina and Virginia.

Bloodroot is showy in some areas along with lots of Trillium and Fire Pink and Phlox showing. Some Pink Azalea, known locally as Pinxter, is in bloom along with the first of the blazing orange Flame Azalea. Not far behind that will come those great blooms that include many more Flame and Pink Azalea and Mountain Laurel.

Read the full Wildflower Report for May 7, 2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Throughout his tenure with the NPS Phil has received numerous awards and recognitions including winning the Department of Interior’s Meritorious Award, being listed in the Congressional Record in 2006, and having a new species to science named after him by the Discover Life in America organization in appreciation for his support of their projects.

Growing up in Grover, NC, Phil then traveled to Clemson University where he receievd a BS in Administrative Management. Phil is currently married to Dr. Becky Nichols, a scientist with Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In an interview with the Blue Ridge Parkway 75th, Inc, Phil answers these important questions regarding the past, present and future of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

• Where did the idea for the Blue Ridge Parkway originate?
• Why is the Blue Ridge Parkway important?
• What is a National Park Service “unit”?
• As the Parkway enters its 75th year, what are the biggest challenges it faces?
• What’s the most exciting thing about the Parkway’s 75th Anniversary?

Read Phil’s answers in the full interview published on Virtual Blue Ridge.

Look for Spring Beauty and Mayapple, early arrivals of the spring, as you walk Parkway trails or look in the moist areas in the mid-elevations from the car. Bloodroot is showy in many areas along with Trillium and a few early Fire Pink.

Some Pink Azalea, known locally as Pinxter, is in bloom along with the first blazing orange Flame Azalea.

Read the full Wildflower Report for May 4, 2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

The major threat for winter weather is obviously behind us but there can still be spring snow storms that come our way. So it’s always a good idea to keep current with the local weather forecast and keep a few emergency supplies in the trunk of your car whenever you visit the mountains.

Look for Spring Beauty, Skunk Cabbage and May Apple, early arrivals in spring, as you walk Parkway trails or look in the moist areas at mid elevations from your car. Bloodroot may also be shown in a few areas.

One of the earliest trees to bloom here in the Blue Ridge is Serviceberry which shows its white blooms deep in the forest this time of year. Redbud and Dogwood is rapidly coming on in the lower and mid elevations all along the Parkway.

 Read the full Wildflower Report for April 16, 2010 on Virtual Blue Ridge.

There are road closures still in place due to downed trees and debris in the roadway. While National Park Service personnel have been working hard to ensure that the remaining cleanup is completed as quickly as possible, contracts are also being accepted from small business contractors to help with the volume of work.

For an updated look at road closures you can visit our dedicated Blue Ridge Parkway Road Conditions and Closures page on Virtual Blue Ridge, or call the Parkway Hotline at 828-298-0398.

Today the National Park Service released a schedule of anticipated cleanup and opening dates for the remaining closed sections of the Parkway. Read the full press release and schedule on Virtual Blue Ridge.

A hard winter has resulted in an increased workload removing fallen and damaged trees from not only the roadway but trails, campgrounds, and picnic areas.  This type of work is hard physical labor involving the dangers of working with heavy equipment, chainsaws, and chippers.  Once the roads and trails are open, there will still be extensive work to remove the debris from road shoulders.

The Ridge District at the north end of the Parkway was challenged by a shooting incident at Rock Point Overlook this past Monday night.  This resulted in a section of road being closed to the public and diversion of park rangers to the investigation and eventual apprehension of the shooter.   For more information on this incident you can check my blog at www.aparkrangerslife.blogspot.com.

Now the Ridge District whose staff is already hard pressed and tested is faced with two wildfires burning along the Parkway near the James River area in Virginia.  This has also resulted in a section of the Parkway being closed to the public.

This all reminds me of many springs following hard winters.  As the blossoms and wildflowers bloom so do other aspects of nature and man.  But you can be assured that the dedicated men and women who work for the National Park Service and the corps of volunteers that assist them will have the Park up and running for your visit this year.

Many wildflowers and plants are threatened by man.  Not only does air quality and disappearing habitat destroy plant populations, the greed of man also shares the responsibility.  Many plants in the Southern Appalachian Mountains are collected by people ranging from well meaning visitors who want a few flowers for their table to professional plant poachers stealing plants to sell for profit.

For the occasional visitor who picks wildflowers they do not understand that they are being greedy not leaving the display for others to enjoy.  When flowers in bloom are taken, they do not have the opportunity to leave seed to establish future generations of blooms.  In a park like the Blue Ridge Parkway – the most visited National Park Service unit in the system – where more than 16 million people visit per year, casual flower picking can have a devastating impact on plant populations.  Many times this explains why visitors return one or more years later trying to recapture the excitement of finding a wildflower display at a certain location and it is no longer there.

As you visit the parks of the Southern Appalachians this year, be part of the solution and help to protect our native plants.

• Do not pick wildflowers – Take photos and leave the plants where they can continue to grow and produce seed
• If you see others digging or removing plants within the park – notify a Park Ranger as soon as possible – on the Blue Ridge Parkway you can call  800-PARKWATCH to make a report
• Educate your friends and family members to leave plants where they observe them

Help the National Park Service to preserve and protect our natural heritage for future generations.

You can learn more about the problems with commercial theft of plants in the Southern Appalachians in my book A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty Two Years Protecting Our National Parks.

With our new upgrades to Virtual Blue Ridge we hope to be able to answer both of those questions quickly and accurately.

We’re proud to introduce a new 3-day Parkway Weather Forecast page. Day and nighttime forecasts for both Virginia and North Carolina are updated 5 days a week.

Our goal is to be the ultimate resource for helping people plan their vacations on the Blue Ridge Parkway and providing an up-to-date forecast page is just another benefit we are excited to offer.

Our next bright idea was a new page dedicated solely to road conditions and closure updates. This information has always been available on our home page but we found that sometimes, especially in the winter, there are more closures than we have room for! As a result the new road closures page was born.

This new page will provide details on all closures and any other special road condition statements that the National Park Service might make.

Both of these new information pages are easily accessible through quick links on the home page of www.virtualblueridge.com. Visit our site today and see the new upgrades for yourself!

The staff at Virtual Blue Ridge is always happy to receive feedback from our visitors. If you have comments, suggestions, or just want to say hi, feel free to contact us anytime.

Even though the fiscal year officially starts in October, it is this time of year that field offices get a better picture of what their operating budgets will be for the season.  In some years we were not informed of our bottom line for funds until June.  Supervisors should have received their registers of job applicants from those who applied back in January to work this coming summer.  So the laborious assignment of completing the hiring of seasonal staffs is in full swing.  This process keeps supervisors in offices glued to the phones making contacts, checking availability, and eventually making offers.  So if you applied for a National Park Service seasonal position, stay by the phone or in reach of one.

As the weather starts to break Park Rangers and maintenance staff are able to get out to facilities and roads to assess what damage there may be to park infrastructure.  The most common damage found is from fallen trees and limbs.  Many times roads may be blocked or structures will have roof damage.  This can result in planning for minor cleanups to major repair projects.  Under the ground and harder to locate there may be water lines and sewage systems cracked due to age by the shifting of earth and rock from the freezing and thawing of ice.  Leaks in water systems may not be found until they are activated just days before facilities are opened for the visitor season.

Another important work force will be out this month.  Volunteers who maintain trail systems through the region will be scouting and monitoring for damage on the Appalachian and Mountains to Sea Trails among many others.  These volunteers spend thousands of hours each year clearing, marking, maintaining, and building trails for the public to enjoy.

A lot of work begins now so you can enjoy our National Parks later this spring.

These conditions will take longer to disappear as spring approaches.  The now rock solid ice cannot be plowed with equipment.  As a park ranger I remember using a heavy sledge hammer in attempts to break ice that had formed across the road surfaces from water seeping from springs and melting snows.  This was ineffective and normally resulted in the road remaining impassable and my back being sore.

The slopes and aspect of mountain sides and road cuts also contribute to the slowing of thawing and melting.  That legendary location “where the sun don’t shine” can be found all along the Blue Ridge Parkway.  These constantly shaded areas are always the last to warm up enough to melt.

So even if you have a beautiful day at your house, do not be surprised if you visit the Blue Ridge Parkway and find sections still closed to traffic.  The road may not be safe for vehicle travel until there are several days of warm rain that will help break up the stubborn ice.

The reward for our patience promises to be a delayed but spectacular spring.  Trees, shrubs, and wildflowers of the Southern Appalachians are being well watered by the slow melting of natures white carpet.

Author and retired National Park Ranger Bruce W. Bytnar will be in Roanoke, Virginia on Saturday March 13 for a reading  from his book, “A Park Ranger’s Life: Thirty Two Years Protecting Our National Parks” at the Tanglewood Barnes and Noble Store.  The event will start at 1pm and he will be available to sign books through the afternoon.

Mr. Bytnar spent twenty seven years of his career as a park ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway which forms the stage for many of his stories.  Stop by and learn about bears, lost hikers, bad guys, fighting fires, and many of the other adventures and duties of a park ranger.

No longer will there be one set of regulations pertaining to the possession of firearms in National Park Service Areas.  Visitors will need to be aware of the regulations of the state where the park they are visiting is located.  It becomes even more complex when parks are in more than one state or regulations and ordinances are not uniform throughout a state.

An example is the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Virginia has what are considered liberal firearms laws.  By state law you can carry a firearm as long as it is in the open and visible.  To carry one concealed you do need a permit.  Virginia law does allow counties to adopt more restrictive ordinances within their jurisdictions.  Consequently, on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia visitors could be permitted to carry loaded rifles and shotguns in their cars except while traveling through sections of the park located in Roanoke County where loaded long guns in vehicles are prohibited.

There are those in the state of Maine that are concerned about firearms in National Parks such as Acadia.  There is a movement to pass a state law that prohibits or limits firearms in parks.  If passed this law would affect enforcement in both state and Federal parks since state law is now the basis for regulating guns in National Parks.

Public Law 111-24, Section 512 also conflicts with existing Federal laws such as those that prohibit the possession of firearms in or on Federal facilities.  This is commonly used to provide protection for Post Offices, Court Houses, military bases, and Federal buildings.  Are not National Park Visitor Centers, Offices, and Concessions buildings federal facilities?   Perhaps even the parks themselves could be considered under this law.

The new law prevents the National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior from enforcing any regulations that prohibit the possession of firearms.  Regulations will still be in place that prohibit the carrying and use of firearms.

If you are confused by all this, you are not the only ones.  It will take some time and education to smooth out the rough spots to interpret and enforce this new myriad of laws and regulations.

Information inside tells how their roof is layered with soil and plants. Green roofs help in absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, and creating a habitat for animals.

Walking inside was like walking into a history museum of the Parkway. But not just any old museum, this one was interactive and interesting. When younger people think of museums they think of strictly history with no hands-on exhibits.

Every station I stopped at stole my attention. Even up until it closed for the day, there were children inside begging their parents to stay longer so they could play.

Two of the stations had wooden pieces for children to pick up and make something. History about the trains of the area was paired with a build-your-own train track out of wooden pieces.

Next to this, was a huge photograph of a view from one of the many Parkway overlooks. The activity was called “Frame your Own View”. Here, children or adults chose which wooden pieces with scenes on them they wanted to place in the frame to create their own view.

The Destination center also had a theatre. One film was shown every hour throughout the day. This film, called “The Blue Ridge Parkway-America’s Favorite Journey” was my favorite part of my time at the center.

The film reminded me of why I came to the Destination Center in the first place, and my love for the Blue Ridge Parkway. It touched on many topics such as Appalachian music, artisans in the area, and the history of the parkway.

Cone Bass Lake Restrooms Are Priority Resource Provided Through Partnership of Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Blue Ridge Parkway, Town of Blowing Rock and Generous Donors

What happens when well over 300 people come together with one single mission?

It’s spelled S U C C E S S for the project and R E L I E F for those who will benefit from its service.

On Thursday, October 8th, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will celebrate the completion and opening of the new Bass Lake comfort station. It is built as a miniature replica of the grand Flat Top Manor, the mountain home of Moses and Bertha Cone that overlooks the picturesque lake that is a recreation destination for thousands. The need for restrooms at Cone Bass Lake was identified by Parkway patrons as a priority for the park. It has become one of the busiest spots along the entire 469-mile national scenic highway that connects the Shenandoah in Virginia and Great Smokies in North Carolina.

As has been the case in numerous projects along the most visited National Park in America, the first to step up to meet the need was the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. In partnership with Parkway officials, the Town of Blowing Rock, and over 300 donors, the Foundation led the effort to design and construct a unique facility that will not only fill the need, but make it an architecturally appealing asset to the Moses Cone Park.

The Bass Lake Comfort Station will become an important resource for the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Moses Cone Estate, so important that a special ceremony is being planned to celebrate its opening.

“I’ve seen a lot of structures celebrate their completion with a ribbon cutting,” said a daily Bass Lake walker. “But I believe this is the first time I’ve heard about one to celebrate the opening of a restroom.”

“But I’ll be there,” she said. “It should be fun.”

Fun will be the emphasis on October 8th when dignitaries come together at 10 a.m. to lead donors and friends in a dedication ceremony that will feel more like a party than a serious and formal program of events.

For instance, you could be “King (or Queen) for a Day” by giving the comfort station a creative and funny name just for the day of the celebration, bringing a smile and a chuckle to those attending the ribbon cutting.

Norris Barnes of Blowing Rock, who has been a contributing patron of the celebration committee, put this part of the program into perspective.

The Aussies call it the “Thunderbox’”, he said. “Some call it the ‘Long Drop’, ‘Half Moon Mansion’, or even ‘Grandpa’s Office’. We’re hoping that our friends and neighbors will submit their creative name for the Comfort Station, one that will be for one day only, on October 8. The winner will claim their throne as the king or queen for the day, and the first to answer nature’s call at the brand new comfort station.”

Barnes said the rules are simple, just mail or e-mail the suggested name to committee member Jerry Burns (P.O. Box 1373, Blowing Rock, N.C. 28605), or email at burnsjn@bellsouth.net. The winner will be selected by the committee and announced at the October 8 ceremony.

The naming of the new comfort station is just one of the activities planned for the ribbon cutting. While at least one of the events will remain secret until the ribbon cutting, some of the other activities on the program include a number of local and regional dignitaries, including Harvey Durham, Vice-Chair of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. Joining the Vice-Chair will be the Parkway’s Superintendent Phil Francis, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Houck Medford, Blowing Rock Mayor, J.B. Lawrence, and a number of other special guests from the Town of Blowing Rock, Watauga County, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Each person attending the event, to be held near the Bass Lake Parking area at the new Comfort Station, will be given a ticket making them the possible winner of a magnificent panoramic photograph of Flat Top Manor in Autumn by Foundation Board member David Combs and beautifully framed by Tim Miller of Blowing Rock Frameworks and Gallery.

Another framed print from the collection of artist Richard Tumbleston will go to a second winning ticket holder at the gathering.

Refreshments will be provided by the Blowing Rock Historical Society, and there will be special commemorative souvenirs for everyone present.

More detailed information about the ribbon cutting ceremony will follow. The event is open to all and those planning to attend should mark the date (Thursday, October and time (10 a.m.) on their calendars.

L-R: Leesa Brandon, executive director of Blue Ridge Parkway 75 Inc; Anne Whisnant, author-historian and Foundation trustee; Parkway Superintendent Phil Francis; Senator Joe Sam Queen; Houck Medford, Foundation executive director.

A co-operative and non-partisan tour de force of North Carolina senators and representatives has resulted in recognition for the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th anniversary. Bill sponsors, Representatives Rapp, Tarleton, Haire, and Frye commended to the general house body on June 29 House Bill 1655, a resolution honoring the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway. All the primary house bill sponsors spoke eloquently on the floor in favor of the bill. It passed unanimously and was carried by special courier to the senate which was also meeting in evening session.

The bill was commended by Senators Queen and Goss. The resolution passed unanimously.

Attending from the National Park Service and Parkway partner groups were Reid Wilson, Conservation Trust for North Carolina; Anne Whisnant, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation; Leesa Brandon, Blue Ridge Parkway 75th, Inc,; Houck Medford, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation; and Superintendent Phil Francis.

Part I of the symposium, which will be held April 22-24, 2010 on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, is designed to bring together researchers and professionals from all fields who have done new research about the Blue Ridge Parkway in the last 15 years or so. The title of the symposium is “History, Scenery, Conservation, and Community.”

The hope is to bring together everyone who has research findings to share, with the aim of laying a new foundation of knowledge that will undergird decision-making for the Parkway’s next 75 years.

The idea, too, is to begin to create a community among those who have done or are presently engaged in serious research about the Parkway. In my more than 15 years of work, I have repeatedly found out — usually by accident — about someone who was doing interesting and relevant Parkway-related work. Often these professionals were working on some kind of contract for the Park Service, but other times, they were freelance writers or people in fields very different from my own realm of history. It is clear to me that all of us who are doing this work should know each other, share insights, share information about resources, and work together where possible for the good of the Parkway.

The symposium will bring people together across disciplinary boundaries: history, engineering, landscape architecture, anthropology, environmental studies, cultural resource management, and on and on. Managing the Parkway is clearly a task that cannot be done by drawing on the expertise of only one or two areas.

If you have done an interesting research paper, contract project, popular article, master’s thesis, dissertation, journal article, digital project, documentary film, podcast, mapping project, or other undertaking that has incorporated new, original Parkway-related research, please consider submitting a proposal for the symposium. Excellent student work done at the advanced undergraduate or especially at the graduate level will be particularly welcome.

If you know someone who is researching or writing about the Parkway, please forward the link to the call for proposals to them.

Full information about the symposium, including complete details on how to submit a proposal, may be found at the Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary website.

Please join me in Boone in April 2010!

While the Roanoke Times initially reported that the proposed project was warmly received by Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority board, which controls the Explore site (and has leased it to Vander Maten), and the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors at a presentation on April 28, I was relieved to see that an article two days later noted that some questions were being raised about this preposterous and overinflated plan. Comments on the newspaper’s discussion board also included a number of critiques.

The “Blue Ridge America” resort — complete with luxury spa, “sprawling” riverside village, cable car, swanky hotel, riverside light show pageant, super-big zip line, and golf course — is wildly out of character with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Marketing itself as the “prettiest place on the Parkway,” it would single-handedly redefine what has been for millions of Americans an escape from the “business of life.” This development would implicitly make the Parkway an appalling and sickening promoter for business-driven, man-made extravagance and wealthy self-indulgence. Indeed, the only thing that isn’t new about it is that it represents the latest in a long line of privately-promoted tourism schemes seeking to capitalize on their proximity to America’s most beloved national park site.

Vander Maten admitted as much during his presentation when he noted his hopes to “brand” the site based on its proximity to the Parkway. “That’s the selling experience. . . . I want to take it and make it like a national park on steroids,” the Roanoke Times quoted him as saying.

I’ll be writing more about this in the next little while — there are so many parts of the proposal as projected in the video to take apart that I hardly know where to begin. But the public needs to take a careful look at this before it’s allowed to go forward. With favored direct access to the Parkway, this is a development that could fundamentally change this park and what it’s been about for the last 75 years. Is this the way we want to begin the next 75?

Stay tuned.

A summary of Blue Ridge Parkway are listed below:

• Reconstruct Historic Stone Guardwalls
• Rehabilitate Peaks of Otter Dam
• Remove Hazardous Trees and Encroaching Vegetation Along the Parkway Corridor
• Remove Vegetation on Bridge Abutments to Increase Driver Safety
• Repair Trails Parkwide
• Replace Mt. Pisgah Wastewater Treatment System (Filter bid option)
• Control Invasive Plants with Student Conservation Corp Team
• Design and Install a Fire Suppression System in Pisgah Lodge
• Grade and Resurface Historic Carriage Trails on Moses Cone Estate
• Rehabilitate White Rock Falls Trail Head and Visitor Center Parking Area
• Repair Historic Buck Spring Tunnel
• Repair Historic Stone Walls on Moses Cone Estate
• Repave Linville Falls Picnic Area, Balsam Gap and LinvilleFalls Maintenance Areas
• Resurface Deteriorated Maintenance Parking Area – Oteen

TOTAL $14,586,000

A complete inventory of the $750 million appropriated for all parks can be found here …

See and hear Secretary Salazar’s comments here ….

Pictured from left to right, Houck Medford, executive director of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation; Becky Smucker, president of the Carolina Mountain Club; Willa Mays, director of development for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation; Jeff Brewer, president of the FMST; Don Walton, sectional trail chief for the Carolina Mountain Club; and Kate Dixon, executive director of FMST.

When I was growing up in Waynesville, it was easy to recognize and know the people that were doing things because that was all they talked about — and in this particular case it was a couple known by Doris (Dr. Doris) and Frank (Dr. Frank) Hammett. The perpetual topic was the Balsam Highlands Task Force without it’s other descriptors — more specifically the Balsam Highlands Task Force of the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail. Whew! I guess you are getting the picture but I grew up in the Balsams and they certainly seemed fine to me. Why would they even need a task force? I am convinced at this point of my life that the task was to join Dr. Doris in “combating the park service” and whoever else that might need to be “forced” or coerced to bend to her will to put a trail that was to have stretched from Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies to Jockey’s Ridge at Manteo exactly where she wanted it. Much of this trail was to be along the Blue Ridge Parkway. And her primary partner in this venture is the founder, mentor to Dr. Frank and Dr. Doris, and still going strong at the age of 83 Allen DeHart.

This group has made mountainous strides with enough “tasks forces”to blanket the state and now for the first time in its history, a full-time and very capable executive director, Kate Dixon.

Want to volunteer by building a trail, spending time on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and being associated with a wonderful group of people? FMST would be a great place to start.

Upgraded electical service to support more support from volunteers ...

One of the nice pleasures of traveling between the campgrounds on the Blue Ridge Parkway is visiting with the campground hosts. These are volunteers who are most often retired, have committed the whole or part of a season to serving the public, and simply enjoy this as a way of life for a season in a beautiful location.

I am always full of anticipation any time I pull in to the campground because their reserved spot is near the front where there is a power and water hook-up. Being a campground host is a special subset of R.V.’ers who like a turtle, carry their home around on their back. The conveniences of this special camping sect most-often have all the conveniences of a real home including power appliances, air-conditioning (when and if needed), hot showers, and satellite connections to TV and the Internet.

Interestingly, the power requirements to support this turtle home have outstripped the power capacities of many of the campgrounds electrical services. Such is the case now at at Crabtree Falls when I found these maintenance and engineering staff dredging to install a new power hookup to the host site. I was a little naive in my question by just guessing how large a service they were installing. I asked “a 50-amp service, “no”, they replied — “200-amp”

200-amp is a full-scale standard residential electrical service. Certainly a worthy investment for the Blue Ridge Parkway, but an expense that most would ever guess as being a maintenance item to attract and retain these special volunteers.

L-R, in this photo in 1996 - two years after saving the Orchard -- Annette Quint, Bill Carson, Cindy Medlock, and Barger Moss

from the Barger and Eleanor Moss Collection of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Family Archives

The Blue Ridge Parkway is rich with stories steeped in history and legend; the individuals who built the Blue Ridge Parkway, to the best of my knowledge, are all gone. However, in every Parkway community there is a vibrancy of enthusiam and support for this linear national park which will celebrate its 75th birthday in only two years. If it is not our park alumni, it is our employees, and if it is not our employees it is our Parkway neighbors who have understood what the Blue Ridge Parkway was all about from the very first day that they laid their eyes on it.

Three such people are Bill Carson; his wife, Judy; and his sister, Kit who became personally intimate with the Blue Ridge Parkway when they saved it from development in 1996. Bill Carson was 56 then, only two years younger than I am now. When Bill and I compare notes, which we often do, it is always about our hopes for next year and our vision for accomplishment which never seem bigger than life — always very possible.

I have learned that there is nothing authoritative about declarations from the national park service or even the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, because we can never celebrate all the individuals that deserve to be recognized for their dedication. In my own mind; however, I believe sincerely, eventhough in their humbleness that they will strongly resist this, that Bill and Judy Carson, and Kit Truby are truly living legends.

Each in his or her own way have advanced and embodied the quintessentially American ideal of individual creativity, conviction, dedication, and exuberance. Their personal accomplishments and sense of commitment to “saving the good stuff” have enabled them to provide examples of personal excellence that have benefited others and enriched the Blue Ridge Parkway for generations to come.

One of the "lush panorama log cabins" at Humpback Rocks, courtesy of the National Park Service.

I hadn’t heard this one before, but the citation caused me to open the daily mail from the Parkway’s headquarters.

Apparently, the Lonely Planet Travel Guide for 2009 and its promoter, AsiaOne, a free-access, one-stop information mall which serves users’ news, business and lifestyle needs in Southeast Asia thinks the Blue Ridge Parkway deserves such recognition.

Tony Wheeler, Lonely Planet’s co-founder, introduces the book with his own list, which includes visiting a country whose name ends in “-stan” such as Afghanistan or Kyrgyzstan, finding a trip that involves sailing, such as a transatlantic cruise, staying for a long time in one place to soak up the atmosphere or going on a long trip, such as a trek across the Sahara or a Cairo-to-Capetown bicycle ride.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is referred to as a USA SHANGRI-LA, “spectacular scenery … successfully evoking idyllic high-altitude hideaways … the Blue Ridge Parkway; a 755km drive through the Great Smoky, Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Mountains – a lush panorama of log cabins and lakes, often turned a hazy ‘blue’ by mists. And there is even a ready-made road-trip soundtrack – chose from down-home bluegrass, John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ or Laurel and Hardy’s ‘The Trail of the Lonesome Pine’.

It is comforting to know that there are romatics still out there who could conceive of the Blue Ridge Parkway as such from the opposite side of the world. But the Parkway’s rough history and past interpretation has given the Parkway that brand, to which tourism officials I am sure stir with glee.

Perhaps, in the 2010 edition, our favorite national park should be referred to as Blue Ridge Parkwaykistan to compete with the other top “happy places” world destinations

Volunteers from the Carolina Mountain Club, photo courtesy of Mark Monroe

The budget crisis of the Blue Ridge Parkway can in many ways be likened to the energy crisis for the for the United States — it will take more than a solo solution answer e.g off-shore drilling for the U.S. fuel supply vs. an increased budget for the Parkway. The solutions are multi-factorial and one important component for the Parkway’s success will be a larger commitment of volunteer man-hours. The Parkway has made a step in the right direction with hiring a volunteer co-ordinator to work from the Parkway’s headquarters and whose task will be to bring greater capacity to the park in recruitment, management, and recognition.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is fortunate to have such a dedicated volunteer work-force and we can now expect those numbers to grow.

I attended the annual awards event in Asheville recently and heard the accolades for those which were selected district winners. They were heart warming, but having worked as a Parkway volunteer and having started the Parkway’s Adopt-A-Trail program years before there was even a Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, all the volunteers, regardless of level of commitment or hours of service need to be recognized as the “Blue Ridge Parkway Volunteer of the Year.”

I’ve written an article about the 75th kickoff event which I’ve posted over at National Parks Traveler, in hopes of bringing some national attention to our celebration. Meanwhile, for regular readers of this blog: if you pop over to National Parks Traveler, you’ll find a wealth of excellent information about all of our National Parks.

Recent reports have brought welcome news that the state of North Carolina will purchase about 2600 acres of the spectacular Grandfather Mountain for protection as a public park. It’s about time.

The first effort to make Grandfather a park came in 1917 when owner Hugh MacRae tried to give 1400 acres at the top to the new National Park Service. NPS director Steve Mather rejected the donation, judging the acreage insufficient to protect the park from adjacent development by MacRae’s Linville Improvement Company.

The idea surfaced again in the 1920s, when a federal committee was searching for locations for new eastern national parks. Renewed calls for a Grandfather national park failed to sway the committee, which chose the Great Smokies and Shenandoah instead.

News coverage has portrayed the current purchase as the culmination of Hugh Morton’s lifelong conservation ethic and dreams of preserving Grandfather. No one has acknowledged the deeper history, or noted that this purchase comes almost exactly 60 years after the last serious attempt to buy Grandfather for public preservation.

To the degree that they acknowledge history, the accounts root Morton’s commitment to preserving Grandfather (evident in the 1990s and after) in his 1960s deflection of National Park Service plans to route the Blue Ridge Parkway “over” Grandfather. It is only fitting, these stories imply, that Morton’s descendents have finalized the deal by selling the mountain to the public.

This reading of history has the ring of poetry, of everything turning out as it should. But it’s not that simple.

The archival record makes it abundantly clear that the dream of public ownership for Grandfather was last promoted in the 1940s by conservationists associated with the development of the very Parkway that Morton fought, and that their dream was quashed by none other than Morton himself.

In the 1940s, Morton’s grandfather Hugh MacRae’s company, which had developed Linville, was in a financial crisis, and MacRae and Morton’s father sought to sell the mountain to the Park Service or the state. Worried since the 1930s that company-sponsored timbering was scarring the mountain, government officials welcomed the gesture but did not have money to buy the mountain.

In 1945, national parks supporter Harlan Page Kelsey (a Massachusetts landscape architect with ties to Linville) secured an option to buy 5555 acres for $165,000, with the expectation that the land be incorporated into the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the end, he raised only one pledge, $90,000 from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who had helped to buy land for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The year after Kelsey’s option expired in 1947, the state tried again to buy the mountain. But young Hugh Morton, by then at the helm of the family business, declared Grandfather not for sale at any price. Instead, he moved to develop a travel attraction there to cultivate “rich crops of tourists.”

Within a few months of inheriting the mountain in 1952, Morton bulldozed a road to one of its peaks, built his “Mile High Swinging Bridge,” and began to harvest his crops.

Three years later, Morton objected to the Park Service’s projected Parkway route at Grandfather, which, contrary to many a popular account, was never planned to go to or over the top of the mountain. But it was nearer his now lucrative summit attraction than he wanted, and he hoped to force it down the mountainside.

Deploying his political clout, media savvy, and support from three North Carolina governors and the state highway bureaucracy, Morton forced the Park Service to accept a lower route in 1968. More than a decade later, the Linn Cove Viaduct – an engineering triumph conceived by federal engineers – was built along part of the new route with no substantive involvement by Morton.

Morton continued until his death to operate the for-profit swinging bridge, nature center, and animal habitats that he had long billed as “Carolina’s Top Scenic Attraction.”

Interestingly, the state’s purchase leaves that revenue-generating portion of the mountain in the hands of Morton’s descendents’ nonprofit organization, which will run it under a state-monitored conservation easement.

Given this history, some questions arise: Is the most accessible section of the public’s new park to remain locked behind a toll gate? Will income generated (at $14 per visitor) underwrite management of the entire park, or only the Morton travel attraction?

And what of the state-Morton family partnership? We should recall that this purchase –some details of which are still unclear – continues a long state-private alliance that repeatedly placed the interests of one individual above the public good. Let us hope that the public’s interests are being better served today.

In the coming days, I will comment on the historical roots of this purchase and the questions the history raises. But for now it is interesting to note that news of this purchase comes almost 60 years to the day after Hugh Morton informed a state commission that was trying to buy Grandfather that the mountain was not for sale “at any price.” The 1940s arrangement, had it gone through, would have put the state in control of more than twice the acreage (5500 acres). The suggested sale price at that time was $180,000.

I welcome the news that (part of) Grandfather Mountain will finally be a publicly owned park. I’m certain that in the next few days this news will be lauded statewide as the great fulfillment of what is said to have been Hugh Morton’s lifelong dream of conserving and protecting the mountain. Indeed, the Charlotte Observer’s story already retreads key elements of the mythical story of the unfolding of this supposed dream, which even cursory examination of the archival record shows to be a distorted reading of actual events.

The long history of Grandfather’s journey to become a public park suggests instead that there are many questions to be asked about the new arrangement and how its benefits will be distributed, and to whom. Stay tuned.

Saving the "Good Stuff" - The Historic Orchard at Altapass

The Historic Orchard at Altapass

When Kit Trubey purchased an apple orchard near Spruce Pine, NC in 1994 on a big sweeping balcony curve of the Blue Ridge Parkway, her intent along with her brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Judy Carson, was to save one of the Parkway’s most significant views. But from the beginning, there became more to the story and MORE to the story and MORE to the story.

On September 29, 1780, the location that is now the orchard saw the passage of the Overmountain Men, coming from settlements in Indian Territory, across Bright’s Trace and the Blue Ridge to defeat the British at King’s Mountain and change the course of the Revolutionary War.

In the next decade, a prolific procreating local by the name of Charles McKinney produced 48 children via 4 separate wives who lived in 4 separate houses but attended church as a passel of five plus kids.

Then the railroad came (which they all do eventually) in 1908 produced the Alta Pass Inn, a railroad station, and an apple orchard.

When Bill and Judy started trying to make some thing out of it, both on paper and in their heads, one of the old orchard managers (now deceased) said “you ought’ta have a feed and some music”. It took a rocket scientist (Bill was an engineer on the Apollo moon shot) to figure it out but as anyone who grew up here knows, when that you mix food and music, you have the ingredients for a meal with it own unique cultural and historical heritage which will sooth a man’s soul and weaken a woman’s heart.

Every major holiday during season – Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day – there is a community feed with BBQ and and an overabundance of covered dishes. It’s $10 or a covered dish to get in. The lit-up expressions on people’s faces, the lively chatter of kids underfoot, and an 8-sheet dance floor that is full for every dance says it all. This is as rich as it gets.

Fans Enjoying a Live Show at the Blue Ridge Music Center

The last time that my wife and I were at the Blue Ridge Music Center at Milepost 213 was two years ago. It was for a major performance evening featuring Ralph Stanley. The venue was what you would expect — packed!

But twice and in the last two weeks my wife and I have driven from our home in Winston-Salem to see the announced talent. What a pleasant surprise … a very comfortable sized crowd and an intimate experience. The concerts started at 7:00 p.m which meant the evening was going to be predictably over by 10:00 p.m. — only an hour past my official bedtime.

One of our reticences about starting out from Winston-Salem an hour an a half away is our experience with weather in the mountains. It is totally unpredictable. But now with real time weather radar, we could make the decision for ourselves. Yep, that front should be through there by the time of our arrival — and it was! Remember, the weather for Galax comes from the west. In the event of inclement weather, the performances are moved to the Rex Theater in downtown Galax.

Please treat yourself to one of the prettiest places on the Blue Ridge Parkway and one of the most enjoyable evenings. And remember to take a folding chair!

In some recent posts, I’ve been trying to give a historically-informed analysis of the “preliminary alternatives” announced back in the spring for the public’s consideration and commentary to help the Parkway staff write a General Management Plan for the park. Today’s topic? The comments I submitted in response to Question 3. Read the spring 2008 GMP newsletter and learn about the preliminary alternatives here.

Question 3. Are there parts of the preliminary alternatives that you feel strongly should not be included in the future management of the parkway?

I believe strongly that the Parkway needs to move actively and decisively away from many elements of Alternative A (the present management practices), especially in regard to the interpretive and cultural resources management program. In particular, continued management of the road as a place that penetrated a “once remote mountain region” (p. 4, column A), peopled by “quaint Appalachian settlements” commits the Parkway to perpetuating ideas about the Appalachian region that were never grounded in the actual history of the region, and are certainly no longer sustainable in the face of more than nearly forty years of high-quality historical scholarship about the region. That research is readily accessible on the Appalachian Studies Association website, and should be regularly accessed as a primary planning and interpretive resource.

On a related note, in the area of Cultural Resources Management (p. 5), I am concerned about the continued emphasis in all three alternatives on the designation of the parkway corridor as a National Historic Landmark. While I would welcome the recognition of the park’s significance that this designation would imply, I worry that including the original Parkway interpretive exhibits and cultural history sites as part of the “principal components of this designed landscape” (p. 5) would have the effect of freezing the Parkway’s presentation of the region’s history in a pre-1955 time capsule. In other words, because original Parkway designers had (erroneous) ideas about the region’s history and presented a “picturesque” view of that history that was suffused with regional stereotypes, would a National Historic Landmark-designated Parkway be expected to enshrine those erroneous pictures and sites forever in the way that Stanley Abbott or other early designers envisioned them? Or could the historical scenes offered at places like Mabry Mill, the Peaks of Otter, Humpback Rocks, and other similar locations be substantially altered to support historical interpretations more in keeping with current historical scholarship and a more complex view of the region?

Finally, as mentioned previously, I would like to see the Parkway enhance opportunities for lower-impact, physically active recreation (hiking, biking, unicycling!) and de-emphasize further developments for motorized recreation (RVs and motorcycles). In particular, I would be reluctant to see a wholesale re-making of the Parkway campground areas to accommodate large RVs. While I’m not opposed to water and electrical hookups, I think that expanding parking, widening roads, etc (as proposed on p. 7) would fundamentally change the character of Parkway campgrounds, eroding the quietness and serenity of the Parkway experience in favor of a more commercialized camping model. Additionally, as mentioned above, I think accommodating the Parkway to large gas-guzzling vehicles is the wrong focus for limited Parkway funds in an age of high gas prices and increasing environmental concern about the impact of greenhouse gases.

On Wednesday this week, for instance, I got the a link to an article from the Honolulu Advertiser describing funding shortages at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The article reported on a recent study of the park’s resources by the National Parks Conservation Association, and noted that “Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando said the 333,086-acre park needs 64 more employees, but lacks the money to hire them. The park has about 183 employees, including seasonal workers and staff who work at the park under cooperating agreements with other agencies. ‘Remember, this is not unique to this park,’ Orlando said. ‘It’s a system-wide issue. I think it speaks to the lack of funding for the system.’

Orlando is surely, sadly, right, and good for her for speaking out. As anyone who follows the Blue Ridge Parkway knows, staffing shortages here have in recent years become severe, with our own park down 56 permanent staff members whose positions it does not have the budget to fill. Details on the effects of the Parkway’s budget shortfalls may be found on the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation’s “Parkway Facts” page.

When thinking about the Parkway’s history, it has been important for me always to bear in mind both the local and regional context in which the Parkway came to be, and the national economic and political changes — such as the Depression and New Deal –that profoundly shaped its development.

While the in-process General Management Plan may be dealing with some of those local/regional issues, the Parkway is never going to be the park it could and should be unless the national political situation changes in ways that bring substantial and sustained additional federal funding to our National Park system. For the sake of Hawaii Volcanoes and the Blue Ridge Parkway and all 389 other National Park sites, I fervently hope that the day when that change will come is nearly at hand.

Read the spring 2008 GMP newsletter and learn about the preliminary alternatives here.

Question 2. Which parts of any of the preliminary alternatives to you feel strongly should be included in the futuremanagement of the parkway?

I think there are three key aspects of the preliminary alternatives that should certainly be included in the future management of the Parkway:

(1)A comprehensive sense of the Parkway as a part of the larger region through which it runs, as described in Alternative C. This understanding of the Parkway, I hope, would extend to the interpretive program in ways that are suggested in some of the area descriptions in the “Preliminary Alternatives” document, but are not fully spelled out there. Specifically, I would like to see new interpretive media place the history of the Parkway itself within the context of the stories being told about the region. To do this effectively, a much more complex version of the region’s history – one that includes the story of tourism and the reality of conflict over land use and other related matters – will need to be told.

(2) The regionally-based comprehensive and proactive efforts to coordinate land protection and scenery conservation for the Parkway that are described in Alternative C (p. 4). If “long-term strategies for conserving views” included development of regional zoning ordinances or plans to protect the Parkway, I would favor this as well. Maintaining the Parkway in a piecemeal fashion and taking a primarily reactive approach to encroachments and threats seems likely in the long run to squander enormous staff time and energy in what may be a losing battle.

(3) Expansion of moderate-impact recreational opportunities and development of recreational interconnectedness with the region, especially the creation of multiuse trails and capacity for bicycling, again, as outlined in Alternative C. The Parkway has the potential to be an important venue for physical recreation, and expanding the capacity to accommodate bicycles would attract new audiences to the park and move it away from being seen only or mainly as a place for an automobile-based experience. In the age of high gas prices that may herald the beginning of the end of the gasoline engine and the age of the automobile, it will be important for the Parkway to lead a regional transition to other forms of recreation and, ultimately,

My husband David, and me and our boys biking the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail in 2005.)

travel. In addition to the multiuse trails proposed on p. 7 for urbanized areas near the Parkway, I would also like to suggest thinking about whether there are ways to link campground areas by bicycle-friendly connections or create bicycle-friendly areas near campgrounds, further enabling the Parkway to become a destination for all bicycle-oriented travelers, including families with young children. I would prefer, in summary, to see the Parkway’s money and energy spent on developing the Parkway further for non-motorized, lower impact recreation (hiking, biking, etc.) rather than enhancing the Parkway for greater use by motorized vehicles including large RVs (and motorcycles, about which I’ll comment later).

Titled “Not Just a Scenic Road: The Blue Ridge Parkway and Its History,” the workshop features scholarly speakers, Parkway area tours, hands-on experiences with historical documents, and practical sessions on lesson plan development led by master teachers. It focuses on history, politics, culture, race relations, construction, recreation, and the environment. You can read the full schedule here.

This week’s participants (almost evenly divided among elementary, middle school, and high school teachers) arrived from 17 states on Sunday afternoon and soon boarded a bus for a short Parkway drive to the Cascasdes overlook at milepost 272 in Jeffress Park. There, in a gentle rain, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Development Director Willa Coffey Mays welcomed the group with watermelon, cookies, and drinks and talked about the importance of public-private partnerships for the National Parks today. Then it was back to Boone for a barbecue picnic and rest in the dorm until the seminar got underway in earnest the next morning.

Project Director Professor Neva Specht, an ASU historian and the official ASU “Blue Ridge Parkway Liaison,” had invited me to deliver an hour-and-a-half opening address on Monday morning and to engage with the teachers in two smaller-group Q&A sessions.

This turned out to be a challenging assignment. On the one hand, I knew that, unlike most of the presentations I do, I would be talking to people who had probably already read my book (they all received a copy as part of their packet of reading materials six weeks ago). I also knew that, with a quarter of the participants being from North Carolina (none this week from Virginia), some would have long histories with the Parkway, while others would be completely new to the region. And I knew that in the afternoon after my talk, the group would be touring Grandfather Mountain, a place where having an informed, critical, historical perspective is crucial to understanding the significance of what is being seen.

After many false starts, I finally built a presentation with four major aims: (1) to probe what had drawn the teachers to this seminar and what they hoped to gain from it; (2) to launch them on what I like to call a “different journey” on the Parkway – one that gets beyond aesthetics, beauty, and design, and develops a critical perspective and an awareness of how conflict over important issues shaped the way the Parkway lies on the land; (3) to prepare them for the outing to Grandfather Mountain (Google Earth was very helpful in this regard!); and (4) to suggest some big ideas that would be transferable from the Parkway context to teaching about many topics. I may post some of this material in future blog entries.

Judging from the comments and discussion that followed the presentation, I think it was successful. At lunchtime, one teacher showed me a Grandfather Mountain ad in a local publication that she saw in a completely new way after knowing more about the history of that site. There is no better reward for teaching than feeling that you have empowered someone else to see something new for themselves.

Probably the most gratifying part of the whole experience for me, though, was that it was happening at all. After I began my Parkway research at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1991 as part of a graduate school seminar paper on the Cherokee opposition to the Parkway, I sought advice from some senior scholars on whether to proceed with a dissertation on the Parkway or on the Eastern Cherokees. One eminent scholar, whose work I respect greatly, advised that I work on the Cherokees, as she thought that there might not be that much else that was interesting to say about a road. I proceeded to ignore this advice, of course, and found that there was a lot to say. And even with my book published, there is still so much more to study, analyze, learn, and know about this road and this park.

“Not Just a Scenic Road,” and the enthusiasm and interest of the 80 teachers and 16 leaders and faculty members who have shaped this program is dramatic evidence of that vague sense of possibility that I had 17 years ago, and, I hope, the beginning of many more serious efforts to understand what this Parkway teaches us about our region and our nation. Thanks to Neva and her colleagues who worked so hard to organize this wonderful and worthwhile experience.

Four or five gunshot wounds were in Catherine D. Bauer when her dead body was found Monday afternoon in a wooded part of the Cherokee Indian Reservation, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department reported Tuesday.

No arrests had been made at the time, the department spokesman said, but he added: `We might have something tomorrow.’

Mrs. Bauer, 74, widow of Fred B. Bauer, was a former school teacher in the Fontana and Brevard school systems. She had moved recently to Cherokee from Brevard. Funeral services were held Tuesday in Brevard.

She reportedly lived alone in a trailer off Soco Road. The body was found in a wooded area off Hyatt Cove Road near the Blue Ridge Parkway, about five miles from where she resided.

This was just one tantalizing tidbit I ran across while doing the research for my book – one of many that ended up relegated to a footnote in the final manuscript. A story that had only tangential relationship to my main narrative, it wasn’t a thread I had the time to pull. Still, I have wondered all these years, what happened to Catherine Bauer?

A cursory search of subsequent days’ papers – which I did conduct after finding this article – revealed no immediate resolution to the question of who killed the dynamic white woman who, with her Cherokee husband Fred Bauer, had in the 1930s galvanized the Cherokee tribe in a five-year campaign against the Blue Ridge Parkway. At that time, Mrs. Bauer had been well known on the Qualla Boundary as a teacher in the local school and the wife of the fiery Vice Chief. Together, they had railed against a project that they characterized as a modern day land grab, part of a larger government plot to return the nation’s Indian peoples to a state of dependency and isolation from mainstream America.

The full story of Cherokee opposition to the Parkway is told in Chapter 5 of my book, but the upshot was that the Bauers’ actions garnered the Cherokees a substantial cash settlement for their Parkway lands and likely prevented the scenic highway from being built along the route where today U.S. 19, the Harrah’s casino, and other substantial private and tribal tourist-oriented development lies. Pushing the Parkway up onto the reservation’s ridges left this valley area available for the Cherokee-generated development that the Bauers preferred to government-sponsored tourism.

After the Parkway battle was resolved, Catherine Bauer and her husband moved away from the Qualla Boundary for many years, and Fred Bauer died in 1971.

How did a woman who had played such an important role in the Eastern Cherokees’ history come to such a sad end? Clues, anyone?

But one of the thrills of finally publishing the book I’d worked on so long is finally getting to talk to lots of live people about it! Through a series of book events and conversations with community groups, I’ve been able to meet hundreds of people who are also passionate about the Parkway’s past and future.

A special opportunity to bring past and present together is coming next week (May 20-22) when the University of Virginia will host a conference called “Designing the Parks“, which, its website notes, will examine “the design of buildings and landscapes in the regional, state, and national parks.”

The conference will feature introductory comments from the Director of the National Park Service, Mary Bomar, along with presentations from an impressive array of scholars and park planning, history, and design professionals. On the third day, participants will take tours of the Appalachian Trail; Shenandoah National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway; and the Charlottesville-Gettysburg corridor’s many Civil War sites, Presidential homes, and historic downtowns.

I’m excited about all of this, of course, but especially about my own panel presentation, a conversation with two very knowledgeable colleagues, Ian Firth and Gary W. Johnson, in which we’ll try to link the Parkway’s history and current challenges.

Ian is retired from the faculty in the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia, and Gary is a career Park Service veteran and the longtime Chief of the Resource Management Division of the Parkway. For years while I was writing my book, Ian was working on a book-length Historic Resource Study for the Parkway, which surveys the historic design features of the road. Yet we’ve never met. Gary, meanwhile, has been the point person for coping with all of the ongoing challenges that managing the Parkway presents – especially viewshed protection and relations with adjoining landowners.

Our session, “A Borrowed Landscape: Politics, Design and Management of the Blue Ridge Parkway,” will at last bring design, policy, history, and management together into dialogue. And it will fulfill one of my fondest hopes in writing my book: that learning the history might provide insights that would speak to present policy concerns. So many of the struggles the Parkway has today have their roots in the past; history and historians should be talking to managers so that the past can help us think about the future.

One of our first discussions, of course, was “when is the 75th anniversary?” You would think this would be easy to answer, but it’s not. It’s just one of the Parkway’s “many stories.”

So, when was the Parkway born?

Well, setting aside for a moment precursor roads like Joseph Hyde Pratt’s proposed Crest of the Blue Ridge Highway (1909-12), the Parkway we know certainly began to take shape in 1933, when Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal began providing funds for big public works projects that would stimulate the economy and generate employment.

With that background, there are at least three credible candidates for the Parkway’s birthday, if you look for dates on which concrete actions were taken that assured that the Parkway idea would become a reality:

• November 16, 1933, when Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes approved the future Blue Ridge Parkway for federal funding under the Public Works Administration.
• September 19, 1935, when, according to a latter from J.P. Dodge, Senior Claim Adjuster for the North Carolina Highway Commission, to the Chair of the Highway Commission, the “first breaking of ground on the first project of the Shenandoah- Great Smoky Mountains National Parkway” took place at Low Gap, NC.
• June 30, 1936, when a federal statute named the road the “Blue Ridge Parkway” and placed it under the control of the National Park Service.

Following its precursors, Blue Ridge Parkway 75 has honed in on the “beginning of construction” date (1935 above) as the Parkway’s official birthday. And in a sense, that’s fine. The point of the celebration is not to split historical hairs, but to focus attention on the inspiring accomplishment the Parkway represents and to spur public action to protect it for the future.

But splitting this historical hair does remind us: big and complicated projects like the Parkway almost never get born on a single day. They are almost always the culmination of weeks, months, and years of planning and thinking that eventually coalesce into some kind of final product. Similarly, they are usually not created by a single mind or a single hand. Many people made the Parkway, and it will take the ideas and energy of all of us, talking, planning, and thinking, to envision and build its future.

Watch this space for more about the 75th and look for ways that you can get involved.

For a listing of Blue Ridge Parkway facilities such as campgrounds, picnic areas, and visitors centers, please visit:

2008 Blue Ridge Parkway facility hours of operations and opening dates

For a listing of Blue Ridge Parkway concessions such as restaurants, gift shops, and lodges, please visit:

2008 Blue Ridge Parkway concessions hours of operation and opening dates

Afraid you might miss the latest news? Sign-up for the Virtual Blue Ridge eNewsletter.

Virtual Blue Ridge has a very handy Spring Bloom Calendar to make it even easier to find your favorite blooms. With peak bloom times and common milepost locations, it’s a cinch!

My thoughts are turning to my garden, and what annuals I may want to plant this year. The Virtual Blue Ridge Bookstore has a great selection of wildflower seeds available, and what easier way to add bursts of color to any garden than with the Seed Gardens featuring either flowers of the Great Smoky Mountains or Blue Ridge. Check out the postcards too as they make for a fun way to include your friends on your special adventures seeking out your favorite blooms! Guess it’s a good thing the wildflower seeds are 30% off!

Rachael Eldridge, author of the event

Last year this time, there was snow on the ground because my wife and I were planning to go to the Moses Cone Estate to observe our first Blue Ridge Parkway Egg Scramble and Raffle. We didn’t go, but this year I kept a turned eye towards this past Saturday and waffled about going. But last week, Tina White, the Parkway’s district interpreter made a special invitation. The idea of a low impact weekend after some minor surgery seemed to be the right ticket …. and it was.

This is the fifth year of this event; first conceived by Rachael Eldridge, operations manager for the Southern Highland’s Craft Guild’s Craft Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I asked Rachael about her idea and she said, “this is the perfect way to get kids and families to the Parkway and to the Cone Mansion at the beginning of our retail season to welcome spring.”

Over 300 adults and youngsters attended and kids scrambled “on signal” to collect the brightly colored plastic and toy-laden eggs that littered the Mansion’s side and front yards. I had never attended one of these events before in my life eventhough I remember growing up and searching for eggs that my parents had hidden for my sister and I in the flower garden.

Ranger Tina White insured that each child left with their own Easter egg

I later saw Ranger Tina with her own basket of eggs which seemed odd to me at the time. I asked my wife about this later on our trip back to Winston-Salem. She said, “Tina made sure that every child who left the Parkway that day left with their very own egg.”

Well, of course. As I have told countless audiences …. “People who return to the Parkway year after year do so because their earliest memory is almost always a pleasant childhood memory.”

Share the Journey!

A video of the event is now posted on the Parkway Foundation’s YouTube Site.

Abhijit at Parkway entrance sign ...

Have you noticed how news becomes more impactful the closer it is to home, or if the event or person is known to you or known by someone you know?

Such was my experience last week when I received a call from a former Parkway staff member who started off by saying “have you seen the photo of the Duke University student (Abhijit Mahato) that was killed? …this guy actually visited the Parkway.”

Abhijit Camping Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

And with a little bit of searching, there it was … the most authority rendering photograph of a young man standing in front of a Blue Ridge Parkway entrance sign. The question still lingers as to what kind of visitor or Parkway champion he might have become. Interesting in the composite of photos available, he is also seen cooking a 2-egg breakfast over a gas stove at a campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and . We know of at least three perfect places he visited.

Abhitjit standing on the pedestrian bridge at the Nantahala Outdoor Center

Such a tragedy …

If you wish to know more about this promising young man, visit news coverage here ….

Family enjoying a picnic at the Chestnut Cove Overlook south of Asheville

For generations people have come to the Parkway to be inspired, soothed, awed and enlightened. Those who journeyed here as children years ago return now with children and grandchildren. For them the promise of the Parkway thrives not only in a quiet escape to natural splendor, but also in the joy of sharing a profound and unforgettable moment in a predictable safe environment. Loaded weapons have no place on the Blue Ridge Parkway or any national park.

There is another picture of reality and that is the one the public is more often to see on the Parkway now than one did even years ago — a national park ranger with a fully loaded firearm on one side of his utility belt and a stun gun Taser on the other. I am somewhat conditioned for this experience because I am around it so often; but I admit, there is a always a slight angst of uncomfortableness in being in this proximity. I resolve my issue each time with the question — am I glad that this guy is here standing next to me or in the overlook? The answer is always “yes”.

Now Senator Tom Coburn – R-Oklahoma – is advocating for guns in our national parks and has introduced a bill that would allow gun owners to carry loaded, accessible firearms into national wildlife refuges and parks, including the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. See related story in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Barbie ready for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Just recently, Mattel reported that their U.S. sales of Barbie products dropped 15%, not because of bad paint jobs from China, but because young girls were trading their doll houses in for keyboards. The same report indicated that young girls spend about seven hours a week playing on computers, twice as much as they spent four years ago and that they begin playing on the computer at the age of 5 1/2. This is the same age at which girls typically take up Barbie.

The threat to the Parkway (and Barbie) has come from the surging popularity of Webkinz which is a plush toy that comes with a code allowing children to go online and learn about their toy’s virtual persona and visit with friends in rooms that they can decorate.

A child conditioned to 1280 x 1024 pixels is most likely to never see the Blue Ridge Parkway any other way.

Snow Gate at Blowing Rock

The fact is that there may not be a ranger available to respond for an hour or more in the event of an emergency and with the propect of inclement weather, there may not even be a ranger within a hundred miles available to personally inspect the motor road and make a decision about a closure.

It then becomes cost effective to leave the motor road closed and that is the frequent case for much of the Parkway during the winter.

And then, local emergency personnel must contend with the local traveler which “has 4 wheel drive” and “I can go anywhere” attitude.

We all say (myself, included) that “it won’t happen to me”, but it does. This visitor to Blowing Rock (not I) had to wait an hour for a ranger to arrive to investigate before the vehicle could be moved. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Not only did he have to wait, but also the emergency crews from the Town of Blowing Rock who were called out in response to this 911 call.

This popular destination has been popular for as long as I can remember, and becomes more popular with each passing year — more cars, more people, and more trash. But what a great place to stretch your legs, enjoy great views, and have an almost serene over night camping experience within a few hundred yards of your car.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation wants this experience to be sustained and has invested in a study (which will actually become a funded project). In the months ahead, we can expect a restroom (pretty much designated for to-the-falls hikers), improved signage and trail maps, and new padded campsites for designated and restricted camping. The campsite component will probably occur in 2009.

Please join us! We want to hear your concerns about this favorite Parkway destination.

Houck Medford
Executive Director
Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation