Southeast US: Day 4, 2nd part, Blue Ridge Parkway

 I know I had left this travel for too long, but here I come back with it. As I said in the previous post, one possibility is to stay in Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate, but if you don’t feel like it this itinerary I am going to talk about  would be a good plan. After a good  breakfast in Asheville you can  a bit of the town before getting yourselves on the road. There are beautiful houses of the wealthy families who came to the area to improve their health and the town itself is also interesting.

Then, we go back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Just driving and stopping from time to time at the countless viewpoints you will have pictures like this:

You may do your first stop at Craggy Gardens but if you do not have much time and want to enjoy each thing without looking at your watch I recommend driving directly to Mount Mitchell State Park.

Mount Mitchell, about 2000 m high,.is the highest peak in the Appalachians, the highest also in the eastern United States and the third highest in the country. It is named after Elisha Mitchell, who first calculated its height in 1835. This man died in 1857 after slipping and falling over the falls that also bear his name, Mitchell Falls, when he came back to verify his calculations. Having been there and seen it how uncomfortable the weather is at the summit, with a tremendous and very cold wind  in only early October, I find it incredible that someone with the conditions of that time could get there and do such calculations.

There is an observation tower which you can access by walking just some meters after leaving the car, which offers these great views (although in a day without fog I am sure it would have been much more spectacular):

If time for lunch is getting close you will have to eat at the restaurant next to the summit, since you have nothing more for many miles around. In any case, and  forgetting about the waiting time for a table, it was not bad, it was very similar in quality and price of all that we saw in the area so I can not say it was the sort of place with terrible food and the highest price that takes advantage of being the only one in the area. And the views, great of course (you are going to say I'm obsessed with views ... :))

Southeast US: Day 3, 2nd Part, Great Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge Parkway

We go on with our third day, and as we were saying, we are going to drive to Cherokee, from where we will get to our next stop, Mingo Falls. They were not carrying much water when I saw them but even so this trail is worth the hike, 0.4 miles –all uphill- and the same back.

Mingo Falls

After this, we will start our drive in the Blue Ridge Parkway, you have some pictures here. It is worth driving slowly, stopping in the viewpoints –there are so many!!- to enjoy the views. Our final destination today will be Asheville, where we will spend the night. The reason to choose Asheville is because it has so many hotels, but you also have more things to see and spend a whole day visiting Biltmore Estate, the fabulous mansion –it is supposed to be the largest privately owned house in the USA- that the Vanderbilt family built there between 1889 and 1895 for their leisure. I did not visit it because, to be honest, it was quite expensive and it would have taken us almost another day that we preferred to dedicate to other things, but I would not have minded at all seeing it.

Well, back to our trip, the Blue Ridge Parkway and its idyllic landscape.

Self-portrait at a stop  :)

Our first stop is, besides all the viewpoints, to hike the trail –not sure if it deserves to be called trail- to theWaterrock Knob Summit. It is a total 1.2 miles, but 1.2 very hard miles. The way to it is all uphill, and not on a particularly flat trail, but over rocks. The day we did it, just to add a bit of thrill, we also had a small stream looking for a way downhill that made the rocks especially slippery. Yeah, it can be hiked, but youjust have to know that you need to be more or less fit and know what it is like –have I mentioned the wind while you hike uphill? :)  

Going up to Waterrock Knob

Going up to Waterrock Knob

Well, after a long long time feeling like a Spanish Ibex (a goat living in the mountains) from the Pyrinees you get to the summit, and the reward is, as always, spectacular:

Views from the Waterrock Knob Summit

And, after this leg killer, we will end up our day in Asheville, where we will get our strength back  to go on tomorrow touring this scenic road.

Southeast US: Day 3, 1st part, Great Smoky Mountains & Blue Ridge Parkway

Back again to our itineraries in Southeastern US. I remind you that here you have the whole tour.

Today we will keep on visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and we will start part of our drive in the Blue Ridge Parkway, on which I wrote here. We have approximately 200 Km to drive, but on a two-way scenic road, and not counting detours for hiking and sightseeing, except for the Clingman’s Dome which is included (point C in the map).

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So, to start with we leave Gatlinburg and take the detour to the Roaring Fork Road, a gorgeous scenic road –lots of scenic roads in here- where I advise you to drive slowly enjoying it and stopping for pictures, etc. The truth is with the early morning light  you can enjoy scenes as beautiful as these ones, I think I already showed some of them to you while I was there:

Roaring Fork

Roaring Fork

When you finish this loop road, you will get back to Gatlinburg and from there you take the road again to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park  and cross it until you are more or less in the middle of it. That is where you will find a signalled road on your right to the Clingman’s Dome, 2025 m heigh, the highest peak in the park and the third east of the Mississippi. By the way, we will be seeing the first one, Mount Mitchell, quite soon. It was on this road, and in the middle of a traffic jam –provoked by them- where I was so lucky to be able to see these bears, a moment that very enthusiastically I told you then, and I can’t resist myself to copy once more the pictures here :)

Bears at the Great Smoky Mountains

At the end of the road there is a park site and from there you walk to the observation tower. Even if it is only half a mile, it is all uphill, so take your time. A piece of advise, before you get here try to ask at one of the Visitor Centre’s at the entrances of the Park –you have the Sugarland one when you come from Gatlinburg- about the weather up there, because it might not be worth going, taking into account all the traffic, if it is going to be foggy and you won’t be able to see a thing. The views up there are impressive.

From Clingman's Dome

From Clingman's Dome

Of course, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so big and has so many things to do that you could stay here for many days, these would be only some of the things you can do, the ones I chose.

 Our next hike will be out of the Park, near Cherokee –where I advise you to stop for lunch because you won’t have so many places after it), just a bit after exiting through the south entrances, Oconaluftee. I will continue with that hike… in our next post!!

Southeast US: Day 2, Great Smoky Mountains

 Remember you have the whole itinerary here.

Here is a small map with our main point today, basically we want to get from Charlotte to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, see some things and finally stay in Gatlinburg.

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Point B is the Entrance to the park from Cherokee, from Charlotte there are about 284 km. This can a good first stop as you can go the Oconaluftee Visitors Center and get some maps and updates on weather, closed trails, etc.

Point C is Gatlinburg where you can stay for the night. Take into account that the road crossing the park north-south, the 441, is a two-way road and if you are there for the fall, which is the best time of the year to visit, you will meet with thousands doing the exact same thing. The best thing to do is to avoid weekends and get up early. This won’t be a huge problem since it is also night time quite early and after that there is nothing else to see.

By the way, between B and C you will cross from North Carolina to Tennessee.

This day you would have a total of 339 km not counting with the diversions to see things. Taking that into account and the fact that you will be tired from the day before’s flight I advise you to do something that is not very tiring.

For instance you could take the road that leads you to Cades Cove  and do the 11 Km loop on your car. It takes some time since the point is to enjoy the landscape, spot deers, etc. The park guides recommend 2 to 3 hours. You can really make it in less time but anyway it will take you a while just to get to the beginning of the loop since, as I said, logically there are just a few two-way roads and there might be some traffic. Cades Cove  is a valley in the middle of the mountains and has some historical buildings –mainly churches and cabins- and it is likely that you will be able to see some deers. Another entirely different matter is to be able to take pictures of them :)

Cades Cove

If you feel like hiking you can take the Laurel Falls trail. It begins on the road to Cades Cove, on the right, but don’t’ worry about that because the signalling is quite good. It is 2.6 roundtrip and it is considered moderate in difficulty. Bu the classification of the difficulty of the trails would be enough for another post… To me, is was not very difficult in this case and I am not trained in hiking. The only difficult part was the Flood that suddenly fell over us and my believe every two or three meters that I was spotting bears –all of them were actually logs. Amazing, I did not see them well apart from the roads and then the next day I find them just next to one…  Back to the difficulty, I also hiked one in the Blue Ridge Parkway, about which I will be blogging soon, that was considered easy in a guide book and I almost could not get back. By the way it is not the Laurel Falls are spectacular but the trail and the landscape are great.

On our way to Laurel Falls, before the Flood

Laurel Falls details, not much larger than this I must say

To stay for the night, as I said, the nearest is Gatlinburg. It is interesting mainly because it has so many hotels that it won’t be difficult to find a reasonably priced room, at least if you make a reservation before. It is also the best place to dince since n the park there sis almost nothing. The town itself has little to see. But if you love meat, this is the place to have some ribs..

Here I leave some useful links to plan your trip:

How to get there

Park's map

Trails' map

Operating hours

2011 Smokies Trip Planner

Wildlife

What to do if you see a bear :)

Cades Cove

Trails to waterfalls

Things you can do

Place of the Month: Muxía, Galicia

Muxía or Mugía is a small coastal town situated in the province of A Coruña/La Coruña in Galicia, Spain. The beatuy of the area is amazing, this picture was taken just some days ago from the top of the Monte Corpiño.

Muxía o Mugía es un pueblecito costero de la provincia de A Coruña/La Coruña en Galicia. La belleza del lugar es espectacular, esta foto la hice hace pocos días desde lo alto del Monte Corpiño.

Muxía