Chris: This morning dawned clear after the previous evening’s rain.  We shook ourselves off and grabbed coffee, tea, and breakfast, then packed under a deadline.  Wisely, our illustrious leaders told us we needed to be ready NO LATER than 7:30 AM so we were all ready, of course, by 7:44—a minute ahead of the actual schedule! 

Something popped its head out of the water as we were packing up: Beaver, otter? It gave us just a quick look over its shoulder before it resubmerged and bid us adieu.

Kate: Our first adventure of the day was an easy quarter mile hike to observe a great feat for finishing the Blue Ridge Parkway— The Linn Cove Viaduct. In what might have been a short hike for the average person, we spent most of the morning identifying plants! White bergamot mixed in with umbrella leaf and bee balm were such a delight to see for all.

Seriously, 12 nature geeks cannot cover .25 miles in less than an hour! Too many birds…so many plants…and Megan spotted not one, but two dusky salamanders! (She is the salamander whisperer!)

Rich:  Next up was a short hike along the Mountains to Sea Trail from the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Beacon Heights.  What an awesome view, complemented by a couple of showy cedar waxwing birds.

My highlight was getting to listen to Olivia, a National Park Service and Blue Ridge Parkway ranger.  She is very engaging and did a great job giving us the history and details of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The Blue Ridge Parkway is not just a road, by the way.  She showed us a diagram that detailed just one mile of the Parkway: each tree, each fence has been carefully planned.  Great job, Olivia!

Chris: The next leg of our journey saw us hitting the road briefly to hike another short trail, this one up to the upper falls at Linville Gorge. Taking way longer than we needed to, we stopped many times along the trail to identify and confirm the identity of birds and flora.  No one gets impatient to move…we are all content to take our time and enjoy the journey, not just the destination.  But, oh, the destination!  The falls are beautiful and inspire wonder.  The end of the trail took us quite near the edge, where we looked for salamanders and appreciated the geography.  We listened to two separate “expert talks”.  That is to say, we have all taken on a subject to become the “Five Minute Expert” on, and two of us were able to give our talks at the falls. Lydia told us all about the galax, a very common but important plant that is prevalent in the higher elevations.  Lydia really helped us to better understand the history of the plant and I can now identify a new plant in our mountains.  Thanks, Lydia! 

Kate: Up next was learning about mudpuppies from Chris! Chris took her expert topic to the next level by showing off her life size needle-felted mudpuppy!  After that, we finished our hike and drove to our new home- Briar Bottom Campground at the base of Mount Mitchell.  

Rich:  Did Kate mention that it may have rained?!  But what’s a little rain?  We have great tents and great teamwork to make sure everyone is going to have a dry night’s sleep.  Tomorrow: the highest point in North Carolina and east of the Mississippi – Mount Mitchell.