Puneet's Birthday on Blue Ridge (08/08/03)
Last updated 8/11/03
Russian
Translation Here
My 25th birthday was spent
driving (and hiking) along Blue Ridge parkway. We started the morning
at the Alpine Inn in Little Switzerland, NC, where we had a wonderful
breakfast on the balcony with an incredible view of the mountains. I
also got a piece of birthday cake from the owner, who learned from
Daria that it was my birthday. Instead of simply wishing me a happy
birthday, as Daria had hoped he would, he brought out a piece of
chocolate mint cake with a single candle on it. It turns out that his
birthday had been the previous day and so he still had some of his own
birthday cake left over, which he graciously offered me. My poor sweetheart had to do with that
piece of birthday cake, some room decoration and a card because there
was nothing suitable as a birthday gift, considering that we're
travelling and there isn't room in the car for any extra items... I
still feel very bad about it and will do my best to compensate as soon
as I get a chance! That's a promise.
During the day
we managed some challenging hikes, including a "difficult" one to the
gorge shown below (the first set of pictures where we are at the base
of a river). We saw many picturesque nature thingies on our hikes,
including cascades, mushrooms, rhododendrons, and misty
views of the mountains, which are all shown below for your pleasure.
I can no longer remember which
exact day brought us these unexpected pleasures, so I'm just going to
lump them into the birthday experience. At some point, while driving
along Blue Ridge, we saw a number of cars parked on the side of the
road and some people busily crouching on a hill. Intrigued, we stopped
too and were rewarded with a few handfuls of wild blueberries; the
hillside was covered with blueberry bushes, and in the absence of park
rangers to fine us, encouraged by the example of other vacationers, we
fell on the darling little plants and discovered (or, in my case,
remembered) what blueberries should taste like when they are ripened by
the sun and eaten right off the bush. Those sad-looking things with
blueberry label that you get from the store can never come close to the
real thing!
Our other encounters with wildlife mostly involved deer. Twice we
scared them off on hikes; in one case Puneet got to stare at a deer
face-to-face at a distance of maybe 20 feet before it took to flight.
We also saw some grazing along the road as we drove in the evenings,
when deer come out into the clearings (I guess Blue Ridge Parkway is
the biggest open space in the heavily wooded area, so it's not at all
uncommon to see deer feeding right on the side of the road). Once a
deer crossed the road right in front of our car, which Puneet promptly
stopped, and I learned why they tell you not to start driving
immediately once the deer is off the road: as often as not, it will be
followed by fawns. In our case, there were 2 fawns who crossed over
after their mother at 10-second intervals, and they were about the most
graceful beings I had ever seen!
Now, the "brave Cherokee" picture below is taken on the Blowing Rock, a
natural curiosity a little ways' off the Parkway. Supposedly, the wind
currents around the rock are such that under favourable weather
conditions lightweight things (even as heavy as a penny!), thrown off
the rock, get blown back up. We must have arrived on an unfavourable
day, since our pennies plunged down into the valley instead of coming
back up. Nevertheless, I liked the Indian legend about this place: once
upon a time a beatiful Indian princess lived in a house on top of the
rock, hidden from the world by her father the Chief. One day a
Cherokee brave, hunting in the forest below, saw the beautiful maid and
instantly fell in love with her. He came up to the rock and stayed with
his love for a long time until one day he remembered his duty to his
people and felt he must go back to them and serve as a warrior. The
princess cried and implored him not to leave, and he himself was so
torn between love and duty he did not know what to do. Unable to make
the terrible choice, he jumped off the rock. The girl prayed to the
gods to bring him back safe and sound, and in answer to her prayers,
the winds blew the lad back into her arms. Since that day, the place
has been called Blowing Rock.
Pictures
I give you -- The Incredible Hiking Mehras!!! <trumpets>
And now for some nature views... We are considering putting together a
calendar with these :)
