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gorgeous! I want to BE there. Thanks for the beautiful photos Sunshine. =) ---------- At days end, they're all just baby boys, in need of a tender lovin' mama.
Beautiful. In Indiana, it seems like it went from summer to winter. Fall is my favorite season and we got screwed out of it. ---------- Could a little JJ and Mofro be a cure for cancer?
yes we did get screwed. I live an hour south of Indy, just on the border of Brown County. We are still getting some color here, but not as bright as in recent years. The rain hit last week and look a lot of leaves with it. At least we can live it thru Sunshines beautiful photos.
You're making me so jealous Sunny. We aren't making it up there this Oct; wish we were. Thanks so much for sharing your pics. Very nice. Now...is that ALL y'all did up there?
Where is Max Patch relative to Waynesville? We spend our time in Asheville as well as near Highlands so I don't know your area quite as well.
Oh, summer is still here. It was 93 in Tampa yesterday. Humid as hell. Still running the a.c. Just another July day in Florida (we're supposed to finally catch a break this weekend.) ---------- MofroFan1
yes, as Max Patch (especially this time of year) can be quite crowded. there must have been 25 cars parked around there. Although it is a very large area and the AT passes thru. On the clearest of days, on the top bald, you can see three states!!
Max Patch Road is off of 209. One way you can get to 209 is off of exit 24 traveling west on I40, and maybe 40 minutes from that exit.
Funny .... to me staying Asheville or Highlands is for the shoppers.....
Out my way (bout 25 miles due west from A'ville)is more outdoor-sie adventures, Harmon's Den (hike 15 minutes to a cool waterfall, cool off in a watering hole in the heat of summer), or Big Creek - a little known area far Northern part of the Great Smoky Mountain National Forest. Hike to Midnight Hole, picnic, and go boulder hopping!!! Gots some GREAT shots of Gregg, Sunset, Sunrise, and myself last October. Some of them boulders/bedrocks stuck were as big as houses...iffin ya ever want one of those vacation adventures instead of shopping, dew let me know!!
.........oops, got bit off track, sorry.. :o) ---------- "If you've never seen us before, don't be bashful - sing along from start to finish........and dance & feel good.....there's enough shit in the world, let it all out...........Brighter Daaaaays...."
Nooooo, obviously you haven't spent time in Rabun County GA or the Highlands/Cashiers Plateau. The plateau is actually one of the most unique in the world. Because it is a tri-county area with elevations from 3,500 to near 5,000 feet it is actually more similar in flora and fauna to Canada and Japan. There are insects there only common to there and Japan, trees there only common to there and Canada. The hikes there are fabulous all 4 seasons.
The area is known as "Land of the Waterfalls." Over the last 25 years I've been to probly 50 falls in that area and still many more to go. Some crowded, some where we're the only ones there. The entire area is a part of the Nantahala National Forest. Highlands is 30 mins away and is a little tiny island surrounded by the nat'l forest. I just use it as a reference point.
The Horsepasture River, and the Chatooga River (where Deliverance was filmed) are an hour away. They are the only rivers east of the Miss that have the Wild & Scenic designation. The 4 falls along the hike of the Horsepasture are, seriously, some of the most spectacular you'll ever see. We also have Whitewater falls within a half hour--highest falls in NC.
There are more peaks at 4,000 to 5,000 feet than anywhere in NC with the exception of the Parkway and the Smokies, in a concentrated area, and the hiking trails (including a number that intersect the AT and the Balsam trails) are plentiful. All are well maintained by volunteers and the park system.
We have a time-share in Sky Valley GA. It's right on the GA/NC line. You actually have to drive into NC and then drive back into GA. It's at an elevation of 3,400 ft. and our unit looks right out onto Rabun Bald, the second highest mountain in GA at 4,696 feet. Highlands is a nice walk for about 3 hours to window shop. That and there are some fabulous restaurants there. (Really, really fabulous. The type we can afford to go to once a year while we're on vacation.) We're in a great spot cause we can go to Dillard or Clayton Ga within 15/20 mins and get some good ol southern cookin or go a half hour into Highlands and go all faincy.
We hang out much more in Appalachia than we do the touristy parts. Rabun County gets little credit and Macon County is so misunderstood! Come on down! (I've been vacationing there since the early 80's and love to explore and learn about the area...I guess that goes without saying huh?)
Asheville is usually an overnight trip for music and food and a ride on the parkway and a little hiking.
And that's everything you ever wanted to know about the Highlands/Cashiers Plateau, and then some! If'n you wanna get out of that boring area you live in (ha!), I could give you a 2 week itinerary that would blow your mind--no shopping included! (Seriously, y'all should go down there sometime cause Highlands is a teeny tiny part of the overall area. If'n you think shopping when you think of the Highlands area, you're perception will be pleasantly changed!) ---------- MofroFan1
Last Edited by on Oct 13, 2009 6:26 PM
wheel glory beee! you are indeed a plethera of interesting information in that area. We did the Chatooga River and that in itself is a great story.
When Gregg & I lived in Florida, we would camp at Singing Waters (now a developemnt in the works) in Cashiers for like 8 years in a row before we moved here and I dew remember how beautiful that area was, a many photos to prove it, haha!! And I guess when we moved to Waynesville, we hadn't made our way there since. I guess we just got so settled in our lil holler and nearby surroundings and just plum forgot how much beautiful areas are in WNC. Sad. ---------- "If you've never seen us before, don't be bashful - sing along from start to finish........and dance & feel good.....there's enough shit in the world, let it all out...........Brighter Daaaaays...."
I know what you mean; we seldom get out of the area there because it's so gorgeous and there's so much to do that is so uncommon to us. I used to drive my olbag wife nuts because I have no reservations about turning down a gravel road just to see where it goes. (The trophy is much more adventurous; much younger too. Yeehaw!) Sometimes they end up dead end at a trailer where 15 people right out of Deliverance live. Other times they wind there way up and up and up and never know what you'll find.
I think we all get comfy with something we get to know. And lord knows I ain't trying to compare that area to yours! Where you are is gorgeous and has lots of things to do that are so non-citified. To compare one part of WNC to another is not possible!
I purposely left out Lake Rabun, Lake Seed, and Lake Burton cause that would've made my never-ending post even longer.
And then there's the story about how Highlands was founded. Fascinates me, would bore the shit out of you. So I left it out too. I have more useless shit than a port-o-let. ---------- MofroFan1
Last Edited by on Oct 13, 2009 6:42 PM
Gregg always wants to travel gravel roads or dirt roads for the same reason. I think we need to plan a vacation to our old stomping grounds. Not too far away.
and for the record, your stories seldom bore me... :o) ---------- "If you've never seen us before, don't be bashful - sing along from start to finish........and dance & feel good.....there's enough shit in the world, let it all out...........Brighter Daaaaays...."
