Roaring Fork Falls near the Blue Ridge Parkway

Part of Roaring Fork Falls

Now here's a beautiful waterfall for you to see when you stay in our neck of the woods! On Memorial Day weekend, we took Csaba and Bugsy the innpugs on an afternoon of hiking to a very nice waterfall located just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Yancy County, off of scenic Highway 80.

About 40 minutes from the Inn on Mill Creek is Roaring Fork Falls, which zig-zags over boulders on its way to a nice pool at the base of the falls. The hike to the falls begins to the right of the gated parking lot entrance of the Busick Work Center near the Mt. Mitchell golf course.

About a half mile along the trail (a grassy Forest Service access road)...

Forest Service Road/Roaring Fork Falls Trail

... you will begin to hear Roaring Fork (really a babbling brook), which is a tributary to the South Toe River. You'll also see the remnants of what look like picnic tables and shelters. This is a nice, shady hike, perfect for the summertime.

Lots of ferns and other shade-loving plants abound

When you see the little foot bridge, you know you're almost there.

Good stuff ahead!

Just across the foot bridge is a short trail marked by tree roots, which leads to Roaring Fork Falls. The falls are very long, but not towering, perhaps 35-45 feet high from the top to bottom as they cascade down the rocks. The zig-zag of the falls is what's really cool.

Zigging, then zagging

Close-up of the falls

Be sure to bring your camera -- Mother Nature has etched out quite a few great spots for photos (be careful if you walk on the mossy rocks).

Innkeeper Brigette and the Innpugs

To get to Roaring Fork Falls from the Inn on Mill Creek, take Highway 70 east from historic Old Fort and turn left on Highway 80. Highway 80 will take you 12 miles along a scenic route past Lake Tahoma and to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Cross over the Parkway on Hwy 80 and turn left after 2.2 miles, onto South Toe River Road. Almost immediately after crossing the bridge, turn left and go about a quarter-mile to the end of the road -- the road dead ends at the Busick Work Center and you'll see the trailhead on the right. Parking is available to the left of the gated entrance to the work center.

Art at the Inn: Ann Whisenant

"Magnolias" by Ann Whisenant on display/for sale at the Inn on Mill Creek

OK, we admit it, we are "loco" for all things local. As a huge supporter of the local arts community, we're proud to not only sponsor arts events, but we have several artists displaying their work at the Inn on Mill Creek for the enjoyment of our guests.

Ann Whisenant is one of the local artists whose paintings we love seeing on our walls. Born and raised in England, and now a resident of Black Mountain, Ann is an award-winning artist. If you stayed in the Lake View Room or the Creekside Hideaway Room at the Inn on Mill Creek anytime over the past two years, you may be familiar with this painting of Ann's, which hung on the second floor near those guest rooms. {Another of Ann's paintings now resides in that location.} Ann's work can be seen at the Sourwood Gallery as well as the Red House. And currently gracing the walls of the Inn on Mill Creek are four of her paintings, including "Magnolias" pictured above {taken with our new camera! Sorry to digress...we are still excited about that purchase...}.

Most of the local art on our walls is available for purchase as a memento of your trip to the North Carolina mountains, so please feel free to inquire about any of our local artists while you're our guest. And if you're interested in seeing the amazing art galleries our area has to offer, be sure to check out the Sourwood Gallery, the Red House, and ANThM Galleries, all in Black Mountain.

Asheville Beer Week, May 24-June 3, 2012

One of our guests' favorite beer shops, Bruisin' Ales in Asheville,
which sells thousands of different kinds of beers
Photo Credit: Asheville Beer Week

The year 2012 is turning out to be a great one for the love-love relationship between beer enthusiasts and Asheville, NC.

Not only did three breweries announce that they'll be expanding their operations by planting new roots in or around Asheville (Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Oskar Blues) and adding to Western North Carolina's already booming brewery and beer scene, but in May, Asheville was crowned Beer City USA for the third year in a row {co-crowned this year, actually, with Grand Rapids, Mich.). Of course, there are also festivals and events throughout the year featuring our fine local breweries.

And now, beer lovers have even more reason to come check out the Asheville area: the first ever Asheville Beer Week, an event taking place over an 11-day stretch, May 24-June 3, 2012. {Kudos to the organizers for stretching the week-long celebration into 11 days!}

During Asheville Beer Week, the popular Asheville Brews Cruise {now in its sixth year} will offer tours of the local breweries during all 11 days. In addition, different locations around the city will offer tastings, beer specials, dinners and special food/beer events, seminars, competitions, fundraisers and festivals, all integrated with Beer Week.

Asheville Beer Week will then culminate in a most appropriate fashion -- with more than 40 breweries participating in the third annual Beer City Festival on June 2.

Visit http://ashevillebeerweek.com for more details about Asheville Beer Week, and check out the full list of events here.

2012 Taste of Black Mountain is May 17

If you'll be in our neighborhood of western North Carolina on Thursday, May 17, be sure to check out Taste of Black Mountain! This food lovers' event held each year at the White Horse Black Mountain venue (and sponsored by businesses such as yours truly) is all about the fabulous cuisine coming out of our local restaurants in the Black Mountain area. What better way to discover the positive emphasis our area of the North Carolina mountains has on "buy local" and farm-fresh fare than tasting delicious food and beverage samples from our local eateries, farms, chocolatiers and pubs? Yum!

See the list of participants at the Taste of Black Mountain page on Facebook.

Tickets for Taste of Black Mountain are available at the Black Mountain-Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce on State Street in Black Mountain (828.669.2300). VIP tickets are $40 and get you in at 5pm. Regular tickets are $25 and regular ticket holders can enter beginning at 5:30pm. Both VIP and regular tickets are limited. The event runs until 7pm.

Linville Falls Hike

Linville Falls from the Chimney View Overlook

One of the most breathtaking waterfalls in our neck of the woods is Linville Falls, less than an hour from the Inn on Mill Creek. Linville Falls is actually a set of waterfalls: two small "upper falls" move the Linville River into a small canyon, where the water rapidly twists and turns downhill through the rocks, then dramatically plunges 45 feet {the lower falls}. The sheer volume of water really makes the lower falls a spectacular waterfall.

That's a lot of water

A well-maintained 1.6-mile roundtrip trail called the Erwin's View Trail heads out from the Linville Falls Visitor Center. The trail meanders through woods full of rhododendron, oaks, ancient hemlocks and pines and along the Linville River, and includes four overlooks, where you can see the falls from different vantage points.

The innpugs give the Erwin's View Trail two paws up

The first overlook is about a half-mile down the trail. Looking in one direction, you see the picturesque and relatively calm upper falls:

The upper falls from the first overlook along Erwin's View Trail

Turning around, you see the river twisting around the rocks through the canyon:

Seriously swirling torrent of temerity

The next overlook is about two-tenths of a mile further up the trail and is called the Chimney View {as seen in the photo at the top of this blog post}. The overlook gets this name because the columns of rock next to the falls look like -- you guessed it -- chimneys.

The "chimneys"...see the tiny people at the upper falls overlook?

This part of the trail is more moderate than the first half and does have some elevation gain, with rocks on the trail and stairs made of rock. Another two tenths of a mile brings you to the end of the trail at Erwin's View Overlook {actually two overlooks here}, with a more distant view of the falls and the surrounding Linville Gorge Wilderness Area.

Two, more strenuous, trails also lead from the Linville Falls Visitor Center and give you up-close views of the lower falls plunge basin. Since we had the "don't make us get our feet wet" innpugs with us this day, we stuck to the easier trail; however, you can find a great description with photos at www.ncwaterfalls.com/lin2.htm.

The easiest route to Linville Falls from our Bed & Breakfast is to take Hwy 70 east through Old Fort, then Hwy 221 north to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic drive with the lovely North Carolina mountains as a backdrop. You'll pass by the Linville Falls Mountain Club and Preserve, which features a 18-hole public golf course designed by Lee Trevino. Beyond that is Linville Caverns, and then you reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. Turn right {north} on the Parkway and head about a mile to Linville Falls Road, turn right, and watch for signs for the Visitor Center, which is run by the National Park Service. You'll find a parking area for hiking trails at the Visitor Center.

Things we learned about the Linville area: The headwaters of the Linville River are located at Grandfather Mountain {another awesome place to visit while you're staying at the Inn on Mill Creek}, and the river runs south through the Linville Gorge Wildnerness Area, down Linville Falls, and on to Lake James in Marion, NC. The Linville area is named for the frontier explorer Captain William Linville, and his son, John, who were killed at the falls in 1766 by a rogue band of Native Americans who were enemies of the Cherokee and white settlers.

Springtime Geocaching in Swannanoa

Ahhhhh, springtime in the mountains. The vibrant green leaves unfurling from tree branches, songbirds in the mornings and tree frogs in the evenings, beautiful blooms of rhododendron, azaleas and other bright, colorful native flowers. It's just utterly fantastic to be outdoors in the spring. And one way to explore the outdoors in Western North Carolina is through geocaching -- the search for containers hidden by others, using GPS navigation.

Innkeeper Brigette means business when geocaching!

We recently did some springtime geocaching with guests and friends Travis and Nicole around Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, located just west of Black Mountain and about 20 minutes from our Bed & Breakfast. Set in a pastoral valley of farmland with woods and the Black Mountains as a backdrop, Warren Wilson is a small eco-friendly private college that receives numerous awards throughout the year for its green efforts. Land preservation and conservation is a high priority. In addition, the area around Warren Wilson College was some of the first land beyond the American Colonies settled during and after the Revolutionary War, and some of the trails around the college were once roads used by residents of the newly-independent USA. So it's important to respect the preservation efforts of the local community if you are using the trail system around Warren Wilson College.

One of our geocaching adventures near Warren Wilson took us to the River Trail, which starts with a walking path with the Swannanoa River on one side and peaceful farm pastures on the other. {Our guest pets should please take note: The innpugs have given this two paws up as an excellent dog-friendly trail! Please remind your humans that pets need to be leashed on public trails.}

Geocachers will find all sorts of great hides along the River Trail. Our recommendations: bring someone not afraid of sticking their hand in unknown dark spaces, it helps if you have someone tall, and don't forget your pen to sign the logs.

Geocaching is just one of many outdoor activities in our neck of the woods. Check our page dedicated to activities in the mountains of western North Carolina for more!

2012 Spring East of Asheville Studio Tour is May 5-6

Artwork by local artist Anne Bevan of Anne Bevan Studio

The East of Asheville Studio Tour (EAST) returns the weekend of May 5-6, 2012. EAST is a free self-guided tour of artists' studios and takes place in spring and fall. The tour includes studios in the towns of Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Old Fort, Fairview, and east Asheville. We're proud to be a sponsor in support of our awesome talented artists!

The Spring 2012 EAST event features more than 30 artists of all different media, including painting, sculpture, wood, glass, fabric, clay, photography and more. You get the chance to meet the artists right in their own studios and browse their work. Pretty awesome, right? Check out www.eaststudiotour.com to download a map and see information on each artist.