The Appalachian Mountains:
Geologically, the oldest mountain range in North America, which stretches from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2,000 miles south to central Alabama, are the Appalachian Mountains—known mostly for their isolation, outstanding beauty, and natural diversity of plants and animals. Immigrant families, principally from Ireland and Scotland, first settled the Appalachians in the late 1700s. The culture and music that subsequently developed through remote isolation, combined with strong Irish-Scotch influences, created a society of people, determined, independent, and self-contained.
Surveying the landscape, one can imagine the hardships of the early settlers. The topography of the Appalachians has changed very little since the induction of immigrants. Heavily forested and steep, thus making it difficult to get around. These factors fundamentally shape culture—by carving out smaller, more isolated communities.
Stereotypical, the people and customs associated with the rural mountainous regions of Appalachia, and the Ozarks, are often associated with Hillbillies, people frequently portrayed as a backward and violent race. They are considered independent, self-reliant, and will resist all outside influences on their heritage—and yet, nothing could be further from the truth! The derogatory Hillbilly image created in popular culture evolved through movies like 'Deliverance,' a 1972 drama produced and directed by John Boorman and set in northern Georgia's backwoods. The film featured the popular song 'Dueling Banjos' which helped cultivate an association with isolated rural people. Although it ran for nine seasons from September 1962 to March 1971, the CBS television show 'The Beverly Hillbillies' did much in stereotyping the mountain communities as backward and uneducated. Later, the History channels 2012 three-part television mini-series 'Hatfields & McCoys' starring Bill Paxton and Kevin Costner; dramatized the violence in a bitter blood feud between two mountain families on the West Virginia/Kentucky state line in the years after the Civil War.
Located at Milepost 176 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, is the picturesque Mabry Mill. It was constructed in 1903 by Edwin Boston Mabry (E.B. Mabry) in Floyd County, Virginia. This charming water mill started life as a blacksmith and wheelwright shop—before expanding into a sawmill. By 1905 it was operating as a gristmill, and in 1910 an extension added to the front combined a lathe for turning out wheel hubs, a tongue and groove lathe, a planer, and a jig-saw.
Mabry Mill blacksmith shop.
Throughout the 19th century, as these mountain communities grew, so a unique musical perspective emerged. They incorporated a wide variety of musical genres, including bluegrass, country-western, and gospel, focusing principally on lightweight instruments such as the guitar, banjo, and fiddle. Appalachian folk songs—or 'Hillbilly Music,' formed a unique bluesy approach depicting worship, love, hardship, and misfortune, telling family and neighborhood stories to lyrics and rhyme. Today, the mountains have changed very little since the 1800s; they still managed to retain that historical sense of stepping back in time.
Bald Mountain Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 22 in Virginia. A “Balds” seen along the Parkway refers to large treeless patches covering all or part of a mountaintop.
For any first-time visitor—to fully appreciate the mountains and their grandeur—I would suggest driving either the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive. The Parkway, which runs for 469 miles through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, links the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains. The Skyline Drive follows the Blue Ridge Mountain crest 105 miles through the Shenandoah National Park.
Irish Creek Valley overlook possesses a breathtaking view of Northern Virginia in all its splendor. Irish Creek got its name from Irish and Scottish immigrants that settled along its banks in the mid-1700s. This overlook allows visitors of the Blue Ridge Parkway to view miles of rolling mountains and scenic countryside on a clear day.
Located at mile marker 19 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, 19-miles south of the Parkway's northernmost entrance, 20-Minute Cliff Overlook provides an incredible 180-degree panoramic view—West over the Blue Ridge Mountains. This 2,715-foot overlook has a commanding view of Priest Mountain to the South, Maintop and Fork Mountains to the West, and Round Mountain to the Northwest; it's a great spot to enjoy a beautiful panoramic vista during sunset. The unusual name stems from the small farming community in the White Rock Valley below; this rock configuration served as a timepiece during the corn chopping season in June and July. Twenty-minutes after the setting sun struck the rockface—dusk fell on the valley below. The view captured here was taken on a misty damp morning—looking south.
The fall foliage starting to change into their spectacular autumn colors along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Amanita flavoconia, commonly known as yellow patches, yellow wart, orange Amanita, or yellow-dust Amanita, is a species of mushroom in the family Amanitaceae. It has an orangish-yellow cap with yellowish-orange patches or warts, a yellowish-orange annulus, and a white to orange stem. Common and widespread throughout eastern North America, Amanita flavoconia grows on the ground in broad-leaved and mixed forests, especially in mycorrhizal association with hemlock.
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio Glaucus), is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, where it is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring to fall, during which it produces two to three broods.
Raindrops on the windshield—overlooking the low cloud base through Humphreys Gap, Blue Ridge Parkway, in the rain.
Before the arrival of Europeans, this was Cherokee land. Ancient beliefs maintain that their ancestors' spirits have ascended into the afterlife to become part of the mountains, the rocks, and the streams; that their spiritual guides walk the land showing the path to the traditional ways. It's hard not to believe that when sitting here watching the sunset over an incredible vista. It's also hard not to feel connected, both spiritually and emotionally. Spiritually, from the Cherokee perspective—there must be something said for sitting alone in the wilderness experiencing the relationship these people have with the land. Is it any wonder the Cherokee fought so desperately hard to keep it? These mountains are indeed one of the world's natural wonders.