Friday, October 30, 2015

Up and Down the Winding Road on Sapphire Mountain

In these parts, there are two kind of speeds, slow, and slower.  The locals naturally are the ones driving these roads slowly in anticipation of the next curve.  The ones that are going even slower are the tourists like you and me.

On this day, I was the appointed driver.  I was instructed to roll as slow as possible so that my passengers could take in all the scenery, and they would be at the ready for any Kodak opportunity that would pass by.

Our first stop was at Fairfield lake.  During season this lake is full of activity, including swimming, canoeing, and paddle boats.  The water was so clear you could see the reflections of the trees off the water:




In one curve, was a small give shop and restaurant that didn't  open until late afternoon.  As I pulled into the lot, the bridge in the next curve caught my eye.  In a small opening between the trees there seemed to be something that might be of interest.  As I pulled closer, we noticed that the road ahead was a private drive.  We all thought, what the hell, they can put the cuffs on us when we return.  This is what was around the bend of that private drive:

Toxaway Falls

We made a few inquiries for other stops on our journey today.  One stop recommended was Whitewater Falls.  The drive was short, along the many curves, and winding roads.   The location for the falls was within one of the national parks, and this one allowed hiking and overnight camping.  The trail to the falls was only a half mile, with a scenic vista along the way.  The sight was worth the walk as you can see from these photos:


Whitewater Falls

These pictures do not do the views justice.  We also posted a video of the falls on Facebook.                     

We ended our day with a dusk ride to the top of Cold Mountain.  We were in search for wilderness critters like turkeys, deer or bears.  The waitress made the suggestion during our lunch break.  We made it to the dead end top of Cold Mountain with not one critter sighting on the way.  Not feeling defeated, we made our way back down retracing our route in hopes of maybe seeing something.  Apparently seeing was not what Mother Nature had in mind.  Five miles from our weekend home we passed through the recently sprayed smell of skunk!  Two miles later, we spotted one of these striped critters crossing the road.

We could not wait to return to the safety of out wine, beer and bourbon, along with a.slow burning fire!  Now settling in with the anticipation of tomorrow's adventure!

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