Next Vacation

Carole and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this weekend. We'll be taking a trip to a lodge in the NC mountains where we've wanted to stay for some time. I hope it's cool up there above 5,000 feet!

Plus, we're planning our next mountain vacation. We've settled on a spot in Virginia where we've also never been. But we have to get the trailer ready for the trip. Two of the unfortunate things that happened on the latest trip (Outer Banks) is that a leak developed between the water heater and the onboard water tank. It's apparently an easy fix for an expert, but far beyond my ability to repair. It's not a problem for us if we have city water hookups since the leak is only between the onboard water tank and the water heater. But we need to have it fixed ASAP because we like to use out of the way campgrounds that don't have water hookups.

Second, those notorious winds at the Outer Banks tore off our canopy on the trailer and utterly destroyed it. I had to trash the entire unit. Replacing it will cost me somewhere between $700 and $800. Sad, but true.

So...there are mountains in our vacation future.

The wind utterly destroyed our canopy.

Feels weird to see the Casita without its awning.

High country, we're on the way!

Small Towns

I cannot stand living in a big city. I'm not going to sit here and list the reasons, for they are legion. Every day it is a struggle for me to just tolerate living in an urban area. So, as soon as we are able, my wife and I plan to flee the city for a rural life.

Here are scenes from some of the small towns near the place we have staked out as our probable refuge once we can leave Charlotte behind for good.

I couldn't live without a bookstore. They have a good one in Sparta.

Downtown Sparta. All sorts of cool shops.

The nearby village of West Jefferson. I have to say...West Jefferson is about as cool as it gets for a small town.

Another view of West Jefferson.

They still have a downtown movie theater and a live theater.

Carole checks out part o the wine selection at the cheese shop.

Want to escape even the small town for the wilderness? You don't have far to go. And, yes, we're talking about real wild country. This spot is at Mount Jefferson (a state natural area) where I paused to look down on the charming town of West Jefferson.

Shatley Springs Inn

We may not have been able to go kayaking, but we did get to keep our reservation at one of our favorite places to eat in the high country:

Shatley Springs Inn.

I first ate at his great restaurant many years ago when Carole's dad took us there. Nothing much has changed about the Inn except that they have a new menu that includes a normal meal without the seven vegetables just in case you arrive less than ravenous.

While it was only about an 18-mile drive from our hotel room to Shatley Springs, we had a slow go of the route because of the continuing heavy downpours and the fact that the road we took (221) is one of the curviest roads I've ever driven. It rivals NC 80 in that respect.

One of the many signs you encounter to let you know that you're on the right track!

And here's the Inn. Basically, it's a restaurant these days rather than a full inn. They do have rustic cabins for rent at extremely reasonable prices. We almost reserved one but opted to stay in Sparta instead.

The dining room that greets you when you enter the Inn.

Our meal begins to arrive. You get seven different vegetable dishes with your meal. Also two meats, home made biscuits, ice water, vast amounts of excellent tea, and dessert.

Normally the place is packed. But the hideous rainfall was keeping people at home.

Dessert arrives! I had blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Panthertown Shelter

We had decided to spend the night at the A-frame shelter in Panthertown. It's a remnant from the Valley's days as a doomed place. Once upon a time it was slated to have been turned into a real estate development. Up to and including the damming of the Tuckaseegee River for a large lake, around which houses would have been built. Some of Panthertown's waterfalls would have been buried underwater, while others would have become the private property of the rich elite.

Fortunately, through an accident of failing finance for the people putting that venture together, the Valley first ended up in the hands of the rapacious Duke Power Company who rammed a transmission line down the center of the Valley and then gave all but the right of way to the Nature Conservancy who then handed the remaining 6,000 acres over to Nantahala National Forest. Duke Power got lots of favorable publicity out of the stunt, and the public got what was to have been a wilderness area but which is now two forests bisected by a hideous transmission line.

Still and all, it's better this way than being in the hands of a few private individuals. If you have the time and the will you can hike all around Panthertown and take in the views.

The shelter as we arrived. I'm not sure how old the shelter is, but I've heard that it's been there since the 1960s when the Valley was being planted in white pines as a Christmas tree farm. It has been repaired and renovated many times since.

Sign and good luck charm above the threshold. The cutting of live vegetation for campfires in the Valley is a problem.

Our stuff in the shelter. Later, we ended up pitching our tents in the shelter when blowing snow began to cover the floor (and our stuff).

The shelter as it looked as we were preparing to leave, after four inches of fresh snow had fallen after our arrival.

Crowded!

When I first started visiting Panthertown Valley it was a relatively unknown place. I could go there and not see anyone, even on the finest of hiking days. I once spent three entire days in Panthertown and never saw (or heard) another human. It wasn't quite wilderness (not with that Duke Power right-of-way scar running down the center of the 6,000-acre plot), but it was close.

On this visit, even though we were greeted with cold and wintery weather, the Valley was pretty damned crowded. I would not hesitate to guess that there were at least 100 people in the southern half of the Valley when we were there. We camped in the northern part of Panthertown and seemed to have that section to ourselves, but that's because of a deep creek crossing that we were willing to make, while others were not. (Take your shoes off and roll up your pants and try crossing a wide creek when it's 20 degrees out. It ain't fun.)

Because Panthertown's perimeters are easily accessible by auto, I supposed it's doomed to be a very popular destination from now on. Add in the fact that many of the trails are old roadbeds from when it was almost wrecked as a real estate development, and it's ripe for abuse from the hiking public. I saw at least one teenaged kid sawing down live trees to use as fuel for a campfire. And the forests were loud with human voices when in the old days all I'd hear was the water and the wind and the birds (and the singing coyotes in the evening).

Alas.

Panthertown Valley as seen from Salt Rock Gap.

The view from one of the cliffs on Big Green Mountain.

Big Green Mountain.

 

Panthertown is a moist place, for sure.

You can't quite see them in this video, but some of the nearby ridges across the Valley are covered in the houses of millionaires that have ruined the wild aspect of Panthertown.

Waterfall Videos

Just a few videos from the trip to Panthertown Valley.

Wilderness Falls

Schoolhouse Falls

Weird Little Falls

Another shot of Wilderness Falls

Panthertown Trip

I just returned from a two-day trip to Panthertown Valley in western North Carolina. I'll post details later. It has historically been one of my favorite places in the mountains, but I fear that it has become too popular. I go to such spots for solitude, and I'm not sure it can be found there these days. At least not as it was when I first discovered the valley.

Self-portrait taken at Frolictown Falls in Panthertown Valley.

The shelter where we spent the night.

Road Trip!

I'm not going to any of the places featured in these photos, but tomorrow I will be headed for the mountains of western North Carolina to one of my favorite high-country areas. Details when I return after two days of fresh air and mountain scenery:

Cedar Rock Mountain.

Linville Gorge Wilderness, Rock Jock Trail.

Little Lost Cove Cliffs.

Thorpe Creek Falls.