Week 2: North Carolina Mountains Fall Color Report

The majority of trees are still a Summery green this second week of Autumn at our elevation (2,300 feet) and location near Black Mountain, NC. On our drive around Asheville today, we noticed some trees are starting to lighten up a little, and there are a handful of colorful standouts scattered throughout Pisgah National Forest. We had quite a bit of rain last week, but sunny skies and cool, dry weather are in the forecast, which is typically good for bringing out fall leaf color in October.

Along with Mt. Mitchell, mentioned in our Week 1 Fall Color Report, a good leaf peeping destination in late September and early October is Grandfather Mountain, located near the Blue Ridge Parkway northeast of the Inn on Mill Creek. Grandfather Mountain's elevation is almost 6,000 feet above sea level, which provides for great viewing of the mountains as the leaves start to change on the Blue Ridge Parkway. At higher elevations along the Parkway, a nice color show is currently being provided by tulip poplars, which turn yellow, and by the brilliant red berries of the mountain ash tree:


Mountain Ash berries at Grandfather Mountain

Other than having a great view of fall leaf color in early October, here are a few more reasons that Grandfather Mountain is a great place to go in the fall: It has a long history as a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary, and is known as one of the world's most environmentally diverse nature preserves -- home to 73 rare and endangered species. It also has seven enclosed environmental habitats that have been built around the actual native wildlife habitats, where people can see wildlife in a natural setting. Additionally, there are several hiking trails, made interesting by the fact that there is such a great amount of biological diversity. From Grandfather Mountain's website:

There are 16 different classifications of natural communities on Grandfather, which means that as you hike the backcountry trails you will remain constantly enchanted with the diversity of life around you. It would normally take several days of backpacking through another wilderness area to encounter as many distinct natural communities as you will see in a single day's hike on Grandfather.

Next week, we'll be discussing great spots for hiking as the fall color season gets underway in the North Carolina mountains...stay tuned!

East of Asheville Studio Tour

Painting by Lisa Walraven, one of the EAST artists

In the mountains of western North Carolina, art is an important part of the area's past and present. In the late 1800s, for example, George Washington Vanderbilt brought hundreds of artisans to the area to help with the construction of Biltmore Estate and those artists stayed in the area and put down roots, including architect Rafael Gaustivino (designer of Asheville's Basilica of St. Lawrence) who settled in the town of Black Mountain. Additionally, the legendary Black Mountain College provided an art-centered curriculum from 1933 to 1957, attracting artsy students and faculty alike, such as Josef Albers, Merce Cunningham, Buckminster Fuller, Franz Kline and Dorothea Rockburne.

So, it comes as no surprise that our local artists are quite talented, and you have the opportunity to see them in action on October 10 and 11, 2009, when artists from Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Fairview and East Asheville will open their studios as part of the East of Asheville Studio Tour (EAST).

The free, self-guided tour includes 22 stops. You can visit all or as many of the studios as you wish; a handy map is available at the EAST website and we also have copies at the Inn. You'll be able to browse beautiful art for sale, plus many of the artists will be demonstrating their work as well. You'll see pottery, clay, fiber, paintings, woodworking, jewelry, photography, metal, glasswork and more. We really do have a diverse group of very talented artists living in, and getting their inspiration from, this beautiful area of western North Carolina and we're proud to be a sponsor of the EAST event.

Late Summer Geocaching in Montreat

Recently, two of our frequent guests and friends, Travis and Nicole, stayed at the Inn and we spent an afternoon with them looking for geocaches in Montreat (the town that borders the town of Black Mountain to the north). For those of you who are unfamiliar with geocaching, it's the search for containers hidden by other geocachers, using latitude and longitude coordinates and a GPS receiver.

The "caches" typically contain a logbook that you sign, and items called "swag" that you can trade for items you bring (and the items you leave should be of equal or greater value). There are over 900,000 geocaches hidden around the world, and hundreds of them are hidden in our part of western North Carolina (with new ones being hidden every week by a very active group of geocachers), so we'll never run out of caches to find.

This particular late summer day brought us first to a cache at the end of our road, where the Point Lookout greenway bike trail begins. Sadly, we were unable to find that one after a long search, but no matter, we were still intent on finding some geocaches so we moved on to Montreat.

The first stop was along the Gate Trail, one of several trails in Montreat. Here's our little group on part of the trail leading down to the creek:


Travis and Nicole...


...and their sidekicks

The Gate Trail is a pretty nature trail along Flat Creek that starts near the Montreat Gate (a set of stone archways over the main road into the town) and heads north about a mile to the Nature Center. Nicely hidden along the trail was a geocache that's part of a series of 101 geocaches in the area called 101 Dalmatians. This one was #50 in the series (this was the second one we found; you do not need to find them in any particular order; however #101 cannot be found without clues from some of the earlier caches in the series).

After signing the log and replacing the cache, we then crossed the road and headed north on Montreat Road to a set of old tennis courts and a red building, where Dalmatian #51 was hiding nearby. Even though the online logs had several "did not find" entries, we had no trouble at all locating it after a brief search.

We then parked the car for a walk around part of the Montreat College campus on the hunt for Dalmatian #52. This cache was more of a challenge because there were so many people around. One "rule" of geocaching is to not let anyone know what you're doing (one reason being that geocaches often turn up missing, vandalized or stolen when they're discovered by non-geocachers). So here are Brigette and Nicole pretending to be visitors to the college while looking for the cache:



After signing the log for Dalmatian #52, we parked by Lake Susan near the Montreat Conference Center. Lake Susan is a picturesque lake complete with gazebo and elegant white swans swimming around. And a geocache called Dalmatians #63. Unfortunately, we came up empty-handed where the geocache was concerned, but we were very happy to have the opportunity to enjoy the scenery, which is a great aspect to geocaching: the searches bring you to some really beautiful places.


Travis searches around the gazebo


Dave gives everyone else a chance to find the geocache first

We hope to get back to Lake Susan in Montreat to see the leaves change since it's only 15-20 minutes from the Inn.

Interested in geocaching in our area? See more of our Western North Carolina geocaching adventures to read about some of the neat caches around the Inn on Mill Creek.

Lookout Mountain Hike in Montreat

If you drive in to the town of Black Mountain, about 10 minutes west of the Inn on Mill Creek, and then head north, you'll come upon the beautiful little town of Montreat, North Carolina, home of Billy Graham, Montreat College and about 17 great hiking trails.

Earlier this month, Innkeeper Dave, along with four of our friends/past guests -- Travis, Nicole, Michael and April (plus Bumble the dog) -- set out to hike up the Lookout Mountain trail in Montreat for a late summer hike. [Last November, Dave, Brigette and Innpugs Csaba and Bugsy worked their way up the trail and made it to the rocky outcropping; you can read about that adventure at our previous Lookout Mountain blog post.]

To get to the trailhead, you head north into Montreat on Montreat Road and turn right onto Lookout Road. The trail starts at a parking lot on the right, and goes up, up, up from there. The first three quarters of the hike to the top are deeply wooded. Here's a portion of the trail heading through the woods and our group of hikers:





As you near the top, the woods give way to a rocky outcropping. The hiking becomes more challenging, and the views are spectacular. Here is a photo of the view from the first, "false" summit of Lookout Mountain, taken by our friend, Nicole (and you can imagine what these trees are going to look like in a few weeks as the fall color season gets underway!). You can also see Black Mountain and I-40 from here, but the afternoon sun made it tricky to photograph that direction this day.



Many assume that this is the actual peak, but the true summit is further on, across a saddleback ridge and about 1/4 mile past this "rest stop with the great view". The actual summit of Lookout Mountain, designated by a trail marker on a tree, is a bit anti-climactic, since there is not much of a view here. But there is the knowledge that you did make it to the true summit.

Taking a break at the summit, with Bumble the Dog (who didn't really need or want a break yet) are Dave, April and Michael...happy birthday today to Michael, by the way!



As our hikers headed back down, you can now see some of the view that was at our backs on the way up:



And here's a zoomed in view of Lake Susan and Montreat College and conference center from the climb down, just below the rocky outcropping:



This is a great hike for all seasons, but with views like those, it makes for a spectacular fall hike.

Week 1: North Carolina Mountains Fall Color Report

A fringed coleus provides color in the garden
while we wait for the leaves on the trees to change

The first day of Fall here at the Inn on Mill Creek inside Pisgah National Forest (2,300 feet above elevation) brought a wedding (congratulations to our guests, David and Beth!), a little bit of sun during a break in the rain we've had for the past five days, and this -- our first fall foliage report for our area of the North Carolina mountains. We'll be doing fall foliage reports each Tuesday, so be sure to check back each week for a progress report on the fall color in our neck of the woods and where you can go to maximize your leaf peeping in the mountains.

So far, we've seen more color this week than the previous two years at this time of the year. We base the start of our neighborhood's fall color on our butternut trees lining the driveway. (Useless trivia: butternuts are also called white walnuts.) These trees are the first of ours to turn, the color being a pretty shade of deep yellow. Here's what our butternut leaves look like against the green grass:



The butternut trees have begun to change one week early compared to 2007 and 2008. They are still mostly green, but isolated branches have golden leaves and we've noticed more leaves on the driveway this week than last.

Speaking of gold, Goldenrod is providing a lot of the color right now. In the garden, we have spiderwort, roses, sedum and aster in bloom, while burning bushes and our forsythia are also showing signs of change. Here's one of our forsythia bushes (they also put forth a few blooms in fall which is always nice to see):



However, all that said, Pisgah National Forest at our elevation is still very, very lush and green. Only a small handful of trees have decided that it's time to change, mostly dogwoods.

Peak color at our elevation typically happens the third and fourth weeks of October. If you'll be visiting our neck of the woods at the end of September, we highly recommend going as high as you can go -- to Mt. Mitchell State Park -- five miles north of the Inn. Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It is named for Dr. Elisha Mitchell, a science professor at the University of North Carolina who made considerable strides in measuring the height of the Black Mountains in the mid-1800s.

Keep in mind, it does take about an hour to drive to Mt. Mitchell from our bed & breakfast near Black Mountain, as you'll be going along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway to Highway 128. There are two ways to get to Mt. Mitchell from the Inn. We recommend taking scenic Highway 80, which is east of the town of Old Fort, then head southwest down the Blue Ridge Parkway. You'll come to an overlook on the Parkway where you can see across to Mt. Mitchell, then shortly after that, you'll arrive at Highway 128, which brings you to a parking lot and restaurant close to the top of the mountain. A short walk from the parking lot leads to the observation deck.

Mt. Mitchell State Park also has hiking trails, so you can easily spend a few hours there if you want. One thing to remember: be sure to take along a jacket or sweater because it will be at least 10-20 degrees cooler than it is at the Inn.

We'll be documenting fall color with photos, so watch for more color as the weeks head into October!

Old Fort Oktoberfest 2009

Site of the Oktoberfest Mill Creek Duck Race

October is just around the corner, which means the Old Fort Oktoberfest is coming up. Sponsored and hosted by the Old Fort Chamber of Commerce, Oktoberfest is an annual three-day festival held the first weekend in October in and around the Mountain Gateway Museum in downtown Old Fort. It's a celebration of the beautiful fall season in the mountains and a celebration of the great community of Old Fort.

This year, Oktoberfest will be held on Friday, October 2 (9am-8pm), Saturday, October 3 (9am-8pm) and Sunday, October 4 (12pm-8pm). Festivalgoers can peruse and purchase the work of local artisans and craftspeople, enjoy great festival food from local vendors and be entertained all weekend long with live music and kids' activities, not to mention the Mill Creek Duck Race and a pie eating contest on Sunday. Admission is free.

Some highlights for this year:

Our own North Carolina State Senator Joe Sam Queen will open Oktoberfest on Friday, October 2, at 10am as Master of Ceremonies, and the audience will be treated to a musical performance by children who attend Old Fort Elementary School under the direction of music teacher Jill Young.

On Saturday, October 3, appraisers from Sheehan's Auction in Old Fort will be conducting something akin to Old Fort Antiques Roadshow, where they'll be appraising items at a cost of $5/item, with proceeds to go toward the reconstruction of Davidson's Fort, the Revolutionary War fort that gave the town its name. Appraisers will be at the log cabin on the grounds of the Mountain Gateway Museum. You can get up to three items appraised (no jewelry please).

UPDATED: The second annual Oktoberfest Pie Eating Contest also takes place on Saturday, while the Mill Creek Duck Race will take place on Sunday, October 4. Both of these events are quite entertaining.

For more information, contact the Old Fort Chamber of Commerce at chamber@oldfortchamber.com.

Davidson's Fort Family Fun Day: UPDATED

On Saturday, September 19, Davidson's Fort (for which the town of Old Fort, North Carolina, gets its name) will hold its Family Fun Day starting at 10am at one of the Family Fun Day sponsor businesses: Sky Island Retreat and Campground (this is a new location due to rain). Entertainment will be provided by singer, songwriter and recording artist David Cody from Swannanoa. Other sponsors include McDonalds, Catawba Falls Campground and Bouncin Kids.

A $5 per person donation will go toward the costs associated with purchasing the land for the Fort.

The original Davidson's Fort was constructed on land in present-day Old Fort during the Revolutionary War as a gathering place for General Rutherford and the North Carolina colonists as they battled the Cherokee who had sided with the British. Davidson's Fort was the westernmost outpost and militia fort built to defend the colonists in what was the wild western frontier in the late 1770s. Residents of Old Fort are currently rebuilding a replica of Davidson's Fort, which will be finished around Thanksgiving of 2009. It will be the site of reenactments, educational instruction and a significant historical marker for the charming small town of Old Fort.

Directions (updated): Take Bat Cave Road two miles from exit 73 to Harlowe Noblitt Road. Turn left and go ½ mile to Sky Island on the left. Music Hall is on the hill.

More info:

Family Fun Day Flyer
Status reports on the construction of Davidson's Fort
Davidson's Fort website
Previous Inn on Mill Creek blog post: The Building Continues
Previous Inn on Mill Creek blog post: An Intro to Davidson's Fort

Space Stuff

While we like to write about what's going on around our bed & breakfast near Black Mountain, sometimes we like to venture beyond our area...to outer space, for example...

We love being inside Pisgah National Forest, where there's very little light pollution, because we get some truly spectacular starry skies and we love all things space related. We had some awesome stargazing nights this summer. So it comes as no surprise that we were excited to see the latest pictures, released by NASA, taken from the Hubble Space Telescope since its repair in May.

NASA has a pretty cool interactive website to show off its space photos:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

Our favorite photos are the planetary nebula dubbed the "Butterfly Nebula", which is in the constellation Scorpio right here in our own Milky Way Galaxy:



and the assorted cluster of five galaxies called Stephan’s Quintet (Hickson Compact Group 92):



Photo Credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team

Part of Skyline Trail is now open at Chimney Rock

We were excited to learn that Chimney Rock Park recently reopened a portion of the Skyline Trail to a point fittingly called Exclamation Point, a little over a half mile from the Chimney. Exclamation Point is at an elevation of 2,480 feet and is the highest point in Chimney Rock Park, even higher than the Chimney. The trail is still closed to the top of the beautiful Hickory Nut Falls as work continues to improve the trail.

This section of the trail has been closed for 11 months, and we can't wait to get over to Chimney Rock Park to see the views from the "new and improved" Exclamation Point. The park itself is a great place to hike and to see fall foliage late in the North Carolina fall foliage season (late October to early November). Chimney Rock Park is just a half hour south of the Inn on Mill Creek Bed & Breakfast and Black Mountain.

Here's a great link to information about Exclamation Point at Chimney Rock Park:
http://chimneyrockpark.com/park/interestpoints/exclamationpointopen.php