Why I'm not posting photos from the mountains this week

If you follow the Appalachians north to southern New York State and turn left at the Finger Lakes, you'll end up here, in the Great Lakes shore flatlands.

Sunset over Lake Ontario (Sodus Bay). 

Sunflowers along an interstate. A break in the rainstorms earlier this week, on the way north. 

Nowhere

Here's another mention of western NC in the national media: The Washington Post's Tyler Currie takes a walk on The Road to Nowhere. Good long article with lots of history, and a trip with former residents to the old cemeteries near the long-deserted town of Proctor on the north shore of Fontana Lake. (registration may be required).

Rhododendron time. 

From the top of Wildcat (a development near Murphy), looking north. 

Looking south.


On these ridgetop developments, interesting article about Madison County in the Christian Science Monitor: North Carolina's mountaintop homes stir debate. From the article:

But these scenic views come with other costs: Ridge-top building may cause downstream water pollution and wreck trout streams by causing too much silt to pour off denuded slopes. Others worry that as rooftops, decks, and greens poke out from the ridges, this pursuit of the perfect view may ruin the view for others - and compromise the region's most precious asset: its beauty.

(Via BlogAsheville)
Hear, hear. And it's not just rooftops and decks poking out from the ridges. Huge swaths of trees are removed, and that exposes a lot of bare soil from roadbuilding. Some ridgetops around here look scalped. A full page ad in the Asheville Citizen Times recently is touting a mountain top airport community near Burnsville. Hmmm.

More flowers

This one is pretty close to perfect. 

Hollyhocks.

After posting this, I looked at the ads coming up on right. Seems they're most always ads for property for sale (although there are cabin rentals, b&bs and the like, too). I don't think I need to be advertising real estate here, but I could use the income if these ads ever make me any money (you need to click on them for that to happen).
But there was one here earlier that made me queasy: new homesites accessed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Please, no. Are those beautiful rural views going to be filled with developments, too?

Appalachian research

The Digital Library of Appalachia is from the Appalachian College Association libraries and is a searchable, browsable library of music, arts and crafts, customs, education, nature and religion.

You can search for something specific or just browse a topic. I browsed Music and found a link to Berea College's library on a local Murphy man, banjo player J. Roy Stalcup. The information in the essay came mostly from 1970's articles in the Cherokee Scout and the Clay County Progress.

June flowers

Gloriosas.


Here's another good flower identification website: WildflowerInformation.org.

Not quite perfect. 

Meadow flowers. 

Lilies and a very dry stream. We need rain. 

WNC blogs

BlogAsheville is sponsoring The First Annual BlogAsheville Awards. Vote for your favorites.

And, Saturday is the BlogAsheville one-year anniversary party. More here. If you're a Western NC blogger, email for directions.

Note BlogAsheville's new design, too, with a great WNC blogroll and links to blogging tools, as well as newsy postings and photos.

Boating

On Apalachia Lake. 

Can't imagine when or why this tower was built here. If it was before the dam was built, it would have been high above Hiwassee River. 

Close up. 

Tellico Lake carp. 

Near Vonore, TN, this lake -- and large marina -- hold some pretty big boats. 

Great Smokey Mountain photos

Old photos, taken in the mid-twentieth century by Albert 'Dutch' Roth, are featured on this online exhibit from the University of Tennessee/Knoxville.
Lots of categories to browse: under 'Balds', for example, two pages of mountaintop photos, including one of the old lodge on Hooper Bald, near the modern-day Cherohala Skyway, and of the tower on top of Wayah Bald, near Nantahala and Franklin.

Ridgewood Barbeque

Nice to see that Knox View's R. Neal has discovered the Ridgewood Barbecue near Bluff City, TN. It's a long way from Knoxville (and a long way from here), but it isn't too far off the track if you're going to Virginia from here, although a bit hard to find (you have to get on the old highway, not the bypass, and it's not well marked).
I first went there in the late '70s a couple times, then rediscovered it on a trip about 10 years ago, after seeing reference to it in one of Jane and Michael Stern's Road Food books, and have been back once or twice since.
Very glad to hear it's still worth the detour. And entertaining to read the comments on Neal's posting, because as usual, the old NC vs. TN (and every other state) barbecue question always comes up.

Hydrangeas in the forest. 

More hydrangeas. 

Clematis. 

Hugh Morton: North Carolina photographer

Marie at Blue Ridge Blog has a couple examples of Morton's best work, including his legendary photo of the skyscrapers of downtown Charlotte showing behind a sea of mountain ridges, taken from the top of Grandfather Mountain on a clear day.

UNCTV has a site dedicated to Morton and his career. The Grandfather Mountain website has more.

In the Citizen-Times, obituary and more links including multimedia.

Newspaper people and photographers remembered Morton: here's Scott Fowler in the Charlotte Observer; Jack Betts in the Observer; Lenslinger; The AP's Chuck Burton.

After another rainy afternoon.....