Photo by Glynn Wilson

If we are not mistaken, this is a view of Grandfather Mountain from one of the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks. Now we know why they call them the Blue Ridge mountains...

by Glynn Wilson

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, N.C., Oct. 21 - We caught a perfect day on Saturday to tour the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is sometimes hard when on the road to find the space and time to write, especially when the pictures are almost too good to be true.

To highlight a couple of stops and point out a few facts about the place, in case you want to visit yourself, try stopping by the Museum of North Carolina Minerals at Milepost 331. The visitor center and educational museum highlights the geology of the region and the rich mining heritage of the area.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

The Eastern Continental Divide bridge with the fall colors in the background.

According to the National Park Service Web page highlighting the parkway, the Grandfather Mountain corridor serves as a refuge for relic populations of plants, and the remote natural areas and dramatic views are less affected there by a human presence south and east of Asheville.

"Biological diversity is best understood here as a product of varied geology and topography and cultural history stories also come into play with isolated cabins and magnificent country estates in close proximity," the site claims.

We can attest to that.

I met a woman park ranger who would serve perfectly as the female lead character in an unfinished novel I started about 14 years ago. A classic brunette.

I had some fun with her and tried to buy her official National Park Service uniform cap. She refused, of course, since it would constitute a federal crime. She did smile, laugh and say I could probably find one on ebay, the property of a disgruntled former ranger, maybe, or a lost or stolen one.

I needed a new hat on the trip anyway, so I picked up a blue Blue Ridge Mountain cap at the visitor center and supported the National Park Service at the same time. It's part of the Interior Department and worth supporting.

Interestingly and dangerously, the parkway is lined with poisonous sumac, a relative of poison oak. It turns a stunning red in the fall, though. Just don't touch it.

The museum is right on the Eastern Continental Divide.

Just up the parkway, there are a number of overlooks where you can stop and take in the breathtaking views. These are only a few samples. Now we know why they call them the Blue Ridge mountains.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

If we are not mistaken, this is a sample of the red sumac that lines the Blue Ridge Parkway, right across the way from the Museum of North Carolina Minerals at Milepost 331.

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Photo by Glynn Wilson

Carole and Don Markum of Marion, North Carolina, pick york apples at the Historic Orchard at Altapass along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some of the apples made for one of the most scrumptious pies I've ever tasted. I had it for breakfast and lunch for two days. If you are looking to tour the area or buy some real estate, Don Markum is the go to guy.

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Photo by Glynn Wilson

Doug McCormick, left, is the owner of the Lucky Strike Gold and Gem Mine in Marion, North Carolina. His good buddy Herman Stamper, right, is an assayist. Three major gold veins run through the creek bed behind them in one of the richest gold mining locations in the country back in the 1830s and '40s, before the California Gold Rush drove many minors west looking to strike it rich. These days, the real gold is in the tourism dollar, and millions of people are turning to gold mining as a recreational activity. Some of them are coming to a three county area east of Ashville to do it. "When they get through with fishing and golfing, they come down here and mine for gold for awhile," Stamper said.

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Photo by Glynn Wilson

Peak autumn color photos from the Catawba River in Marion, North Carolina.

by Glynn Wilson

MARION, N.C., Oct. 22 - It was about 3 p.m. Eastern Time when I finally got the boat in the water after a buffet lunch downtown in what used to be an old hotel back in prohibition days. With the gear all loaded up for what was supposed to be a two or three hour meandering float, I got about 10 yards down the Catawba River and hit the first shallow shoals and the strongest current from Highway 70 to Lake James.

Before I could get my dumbass fully oriented to the strange stream that should have been a cake walk in a canoe, I got tangled in the current next to several downed trees in the water. In other words, I busted my ass and got wet.

But did I pull out and give up? Not a chance.

I grabbed the dry bag with the digital camera and other crucial supplies inside, including a dry lighter and the inspiration, along with one of the two paddles. And with only one boat shoe left, I turned the canoe over on a log and got all the water out then shoved off into mid-stream and took off.

For the first mile and a half it was nip and tuck and stay on your toes and paddle and steer over the shoals in the fast current and around the snake-like bends in the river.

Twice I had to lift my weight off the seat and scoot over the rocks, keeping the canoe straight all along to avoid getting turned sidways in the current. Once I had to put my right foot out of the boat (the one with the rubber water shoe) and push off to get going again.

The first wildlife I encountered was what I call an ugly duck. It was black with a white face and this gnarly red thing on its head, sort of like a chicken. If it wasn't so late, I would Google the species and provide a link. Ugly sucker. He floated along with us for awhile.

When the river finally slowed down enough to relax and break out the camera, two pairs of mallards took off in front of us on every turn, along with a couple of great blue herons. It was as if we were chasing the fish down stream into their path.

At one point we (the boat and me) scared off a cooper's hawk and a great blue fishing the same hole.

Two river otters showed up on the trip. The second one came running down a beach and dove into the water in front of the boat, then aimed his head in the water right at me and started complaining like a damn squirrel. Not knowing if he might try to jump in the boat and get personal, I stopped taking pictures and started paddling. He went down and swam under the boat, then came out behind me with a splash. But when I tried to make a stream u-eee, he disappeared.

At the downstream end of one of the campgrounds along the river, a German shepherd dove in and chased me down stream for a ways. He couldn't keep up.

As the river got wider and deeper and slowed down and got closer to the lake, the bends became covered in autumn color, yellow, gold and red, with some left-over green mixed in. It was hard to keep paddling, even knowing the sun was going down by 7 p.m. and even soaking wet from the cold Blue Ridge mountain water.

These are only a couple of the more than 200 photos. Now if only I could get this slide show function in Adobe Photoshop to work, I could show you them all

The trains are still running through the pass, but the wind has picked up and it's growing almost too cold for the smoking porch. Guess I'll knock back one more Yuengling (yes, they even sell it in Marion, but not in the grocery store since it's a semi-dry county) and kick back with Cody the dog for the night.

On Monday, the plan is to mine for gold and shoot aerial photos of the peak color from a small airplane. If it looks from the air anything like what it looked like in a van on the Blue Ridge Parkway or a canoe on the Catawba River, it's about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in nature.

And that includes the beach in October...

Photo by Glynn Wilson

The Catawba River is the place to be this time of year, if you chase art on water...

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Photo by Glynn Wilson

What can I say? Forgive me for painting. Autumn color moving along the Blue Ridge Parkway...

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Photo by Glynn Wilson

Peak autumn color in the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway just north of Marion, North Carolina. This is the view from the Switzerland Inn where we had a wonderful buffet breakfast of scrambled eggs, crisp mountain bacon, grits, fruit and bisquits with gravy. Notice the fog in the distance rising from the valley. Also, notice the green Carolina hemlock tree on the left, endangered by the woolly adelgid, an invasive insect from Asia. We are filing in the afternoon from the Blue Moon Bookstore on Upper Street in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Watch for more photos and words on Sunday. It's another cool, quiet night in the valley and words can't yet describe it. You just have to be in the middle of nature's show and taste the apples, smell the wood smoke and see the train coming through the pass in the dark above the lake from the porch...

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