Monday, October 13, 2008

The Adventure

Well, this weekend I decided to take a little journey down the road with my Sally. What an adventure we had! It started out a bit shaky. I printed a map for our little expedition and I had determined that we could make a nice loop and enjoy some really stunning views of the fall leaves and the exquisite Blue Ridge Mtns. Well, needless to say, we did get our fair share of beauty...but I was a bit frightened a few times. So, what happened?

The first road of our trek started out well. It was a dirt road winding up a hillside with the occassional house coming into view. But this ended after about 1 mile. Soon, it was just me driving my little Honda Fit along a dirt road surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest. I was in the MIDDLE of the forest. Mind you, I love being in the woods...but I was alone (with my puppy), in unfamiliar territory, and in a car that is not designed for off road adventures. My first mistake was that I did not set my odometer to track my mileage when I started down this mountain road. You see, there was a sign stating that Paint Rock was a mere 5 miles down the road. Had I tracked my mileage from the start, I would have known that I was getting close. But the further I got into the woods, the more wary I became...so, I found a space large enough for my little car to turn around in and back we went. At this point, the light in my head decided to go off and I reset the odometer. When we made it back to the bottom of the mountain, I realized we had gone 3.5 miles. How disappointing, if I would have just stuck it out a bit longer, we could have made it to the next road in our loop. Regardless, I did manage to see many gorgeous sites in the middle of the forest:











By the time we were out of the woods, it was only 10am and far too early to head back home. Sally was doing great and I did not want to pass up the opportunity to get some great photos. (I was quite impressed with Sally to be quite honest. She sat so nicely in the passenger seat, and occassionally on my lap for a little love.)

So, back to the story, I decided that we would try to find the other end of our loop, hoping that it was a safer route than the previous.

Oh happy day! The other section was indeed much safer than the previous, and amazingly just as beautiful. This time we were in the valley rather than atop the mountain.

As we traveled along the paved road lined by trees on one side and Paint Creek flowing majestically on the other, I felt as though I was in paradise. We drove for a good hour and a half along this road. We stopped to enjoy a small waterfall flowing into a natural pool which was bound by a massive rocky mountainside. Exquisite!

We continued, entering NC and the Pisgah National Forest, encountering yet another dirt road. However, this time, it was bordered by the mountains on the northeast and the French Broad River to the southwest. The river was stunning. I longed to be in a kayak, floating along with the current, being one with the water. (But, that will have to come at a later date.) Saturday, Sally and I just enjoyed the landscape that was so perfectly designed.

We ended our expedition at Murray Branch Recreation Area where Sally was able to wade into the river a bit when I enjoyed a rest on some rocks in the river. It was a fantastic day and I am looking forward to returning again this weekend for a longer visit.


















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