From up high, do you look up or down?

Not having to rough it, we climbed a paved path curving up to the top...

It was a clear day with great vistas available

Still out of breath and glad to go slow to the top.

 Dr. Mitchell's tomb is right below the deck.

Great photo dioramas tell which peaks are which from the observation deck.  See other posts of mine about Mount Mitchell, (look at list of topics in right column.)

I'm not quite as adventuresome as these guys...but the theme's the same.  Come over to see what other's have contributed to Sepia Saturday.

Before last Friday's snow on Mt. Mitchell

I was up at Mt. Mitchell on Wednesday last week, then a cold spell flew over, and the State Park was closed on Friday due to snow!  The Blue Ridge Parkway was still open, according to reports.

Here are some little delicacies which I hope made it through Blackberry Winter, or perhaps for them it was just Dogwood Winter since some dogwoods were still in bloom at those elevations!

A white trillium near Craggy Gardens picnic area turnoff the Blue Ridge Parkway

I don't always know the names of wildflowers, so I hope you enjoy looking at them, and might tell me what they are if you feel like commenting!

Yellow violet?

Red trillium!

Entrance to path through Rhododenron forest above Craggy Gap

Yep, I know those little yellow guys in green lawn...Dandelions!

Today's quote:

“People seem not to see that their opinion is a confession of their character.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet / Transcendentalist.

Parkway and sepia photos

Some shots along the Blue Ridge Parkway, going to Mt. Mitchell on May 3, 2017.

Sign says Visitor Center to right, Folk Art Center to left.  I went north, or left, from the entrance at US Hwy 70...about 30 miles to Mt. Mitchell State Park

But we can look back at the historic route with some sepia tones, remembering that the Parkway was built from 1936 till 1987!

Most construction was carried out by private contractors under federal contracts under an authorization by Harold L. Ickes in his role as federal public works administrator. Work began on September 11, 1935, near Cumberland Knob in North Carolina; construction in Virginia began the following February. On June 30, 1936, Congress formally authorized the project as the Blue Ridge Parkway and placed it under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. Some work was carried out by various New Deal public works agencies....Construction of the parkway was complete by the end of 1966 with one notable exception.^[8] The 7.7 miles (12.4 km) stretch including the Linn Cove Viaduct around Grandfather Mountain did not open until 1987.^[9] The project took over 52 years to complete.

The parkway runs from the southern terminus of Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive in Virginia at Rockfish Gap to U.S. Route 441 at Oconaluftee in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cherokee, North Carolina.

Source: Wikipedia

At Craggy Gardens is a Visitor Center, just before the Parkway goes through the Craggy Tunnel (in shadow on right)

 Entrance to the Mount Mitchell State Park.  This is the oldest state park in North Carolina.

Parking lot just below the summit, where there is a large platform for tourists to take a few photos.  I didn't go up to it this trip.

 Considering I live around 2400 feet above sea level, my ears popped three times while driving that 30 miles up here!

Yes I took many more photos, hiked down to a spring (and back up) and saw lots of wild flowers...but they will be in future blogs!

Mt. Mitchell State Park Restaurant

I had to stop for desert on my way back home...

A piece of cheesecake, not at all sepia!

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday this week.  I enjoyed my ride, and I frequently thought of all the engineers who designed and built this magnificent parkway.  See more interesting posts from other Sepians here.

Menu, Milan and Dan Restaurant, Café & Grill, San Francisco : California Historical Society (Flickr Commons)

Today's quote:

Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public. Cornel West

Balsam Trail

I wondered if I made a mistake taking the Balsam Trail off the Mt. Mitchell trail...cause I just kept on going and going. Lots of other hikers were going or coming so I felt safe. I vaguely remembered at least a while after reading the description that it looped back to the south parking lot. 

 I did forget that it was 3/4 mile.  And when a guy went running down the trail, I asked him where it went!

Looking back up over the deadwood, I could barely make out the observation deck.

He said 6.5 miles to the campground, the restaurant, and something else.

Well it was well beyond my tired thinking, so I turned around. I had really been looking for the spring that I vaguely remembered.  But the great news is that while really taking it easy going back, it was surprisingly much shorter than it had been coming down.  That must be a law of the universe which really should be looked into by science!

Some picnickers near one of the many educational signs.

So then I went on my way, but not before checking the other end of the Balsam trail where it comes out/goes in from the South Parking lot!

Today's quote:

We all have bad days and within these days is usually a gem of a gift waiting to be opened. Madisyn Taylor