October Mountain Ramble

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name….Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.” What appropriate words appeared in our devotions early Sunday morning, October 25th before we set off on our ramble over Roan Mountain into North Carolina, back over Black Mountain and through Ashville, returning to Tennessee through some of the lesser used highways.

As we left the hollar, we shivered in the 38 degree coolness. A light frost added a silver sheen the green grass in the meadow. As we wound our way down the narrow road to state road seventy, we passed our neighbors horses who had found the only sun beam that had made its way over the mountain. Yellows, gold, and red leaves edged the road. The Pine Mountain beyond Hickory Cove Baptist Church was ablaze in splendor with the blue grass shining bright red at the foot of the hills by the houses which cling to the level land.

As we headed toward 11W, we passed the Devil’s nose which at long last was beginning to color up. One of the fields at the foot of the mountain had some newly baled hay. Tendrils of fog clung to the bales and looked like steam arising. We had intermittent fog clinging to the tops of trees as we turned toward Kingsport. When we approached rivers and streams, the valleys were shrouded in fog, looking like boiling pots. The top of Bays Mountain was shrouded in fog.

At Harmony, Tennessee we headed toward Roan Mountain which rolled toward the towering peaks before us. The town of Roan Mountain, Tennessee is set in a lovely little cove about 2500 feet above sea level. Nearing three thousand feet, we drove along a beautiful mountain stream. At 48 degrees outside, it was a little too cool for wading. Nearing the top of the mountain, about 5200 feet, we negotiated another hairpin curve and saw a beautiful young buck with six inch spikes standing regally by the road watching traffic.

At four thousand feet in elevation we lost the leaves and gained evergreens, some type of spruce. We topped the mountain at slightly less than six thousand feet and started heading back toward color. We found the autumn colors back at four thousand feet. As we neared the valley, we passed a field of cows with young calves frolicking in the cool weather.

We found a restaurant after we passed through Bakersville, North Carolina, Sallie’s Mountain View Restaurant where Klep enjoyed sirloin tips with mushroom sauce and I had chicken Cordon Bleu, both prepared by Sallie. They had a terrific trade Sunday and we could understand why. Our daily special dinner was topped off with slices of pie: peanut butter for Klep, black bottom for me.

Our next road was 226 which had signs warning that the road would worsen. It did. As we descended, the grade was quite sharp at times, but the leaf colors were beautiful as the trees met over the road. We paralled Coxes Creek for awhile and passed the Catawba River as we neared Marion, North Carolina “Where main street meets the mountains.” We were again facing mountains in front of us as we headed to Old Fort, North Carolina on US 70 which merged into I 40 as we climbed Black Mountain near Ridgecrest.

In Ashville we left the interstate at the highway 191 exit for the farmer’s market where we chose our apples to take home next week to Florida. We discovered an apple that we had never had before, Sun cCrisp, which is a hard apple with a really full flavor. We also got two of my favorite apples: Strawberry Rome Beauties and Jonagolds. Klep got him some parched peanuts to enjoy while porch sitting and I got some orange slice candy. We also got grandma some honey with the comb in it.

Traffic was backed up badly on I 26 because of a rockslide near the North Carolina-Tennessee border on I 40. We opted to return to Tennessee on US 70 which cuts west out of Weaverville. Highway 70 basically follows the French Broad River, but since the road has been improved, we did not get to see much of the river. We did pass numerous places which cater to rafters on the river.

Instead of going all the way to Newport, Tennessee, we exited on highway 208 where we saw several fishermen standing in the water fishing in the Little River. By four- thirty six we were back in Tennessee and headed down again. We passed the Nolichucky River and Dam and skirted Greenville before heading into Hawkins County. We were amazed by the traffic on I 81 as we crossed it. We came through the Romeo community and found our way to the Golden Dairy for a well deserved treat before heading to the Hollar House.

The hill was a burnished gold when we arrived at the house, a beautiful ending to a lovely ramble. We had traveled over two hundred and fifty miles, most of it on very winding roads at slow speed, the only way to appreciate the beauty that this season brings to Appalachia.