More from the Smokies 10/11

Hope you saw my photos from our latest trip to the Smokies... If you missed it,  scroll down to the labels on my sidebar and click on Fall 2011.  We went to the Smokies on Friday,  Oct. 14,  and the colors were marvelous once you got up to the mid and upper levels of the mountains...  There are just some times in our lives when we go some place at the correct time... WELL---that was it for us that day.... The colors truly would just take one's breath away.

Here are more pictures taken that day from the Smokies... Above is another photo showing the sun as it pops through the clouds on that early morning.... I love seeing the rays as they shine down in the valley and mountains...  The largest mountain in the photo is Mt. LeConte... The picture was taken from the bypass around Gatlinburg. You can see a little bit of Gatlinburg below in the photo.   (Click for larger photos.)

This is another shot of the beautiful waters found in the Smokies.... Actually,  George found this new little waterfall that day ---as he hiked down to the creek on the Chimneys Hiking Trail...  Isn't this a gorgeous little area?   They built a bridge across the creek here for the hikers...

This shows more of the gorgeous colors along the road that day..  They were truly breath-taking!!!!!

Here is George at one of the overlooks between Newfound Gap and Cherokee.   Except for the cold and HIGH winds,  we could have stayed there for hours --admiring this beauty.

This shows you what a gorgeous day we had...  Aren't the colors ---both up close and at a distance---just beautiful?

There is nothing like being in the mountains on on gorgeous day---especially in Fall when the trees are showing off their Fall colors!!!!

George took this picture of me ---with the sticking-up hair on a very windy day!!!!!  Can you tell how much I loved being there????  It was too windy to get the tripod out --but that would have been a wonderful background for our picture together.

Finally,  here's one more... All of our pictures were taken from different overlooks ---so this will give you another picture showing the beauty in the Smokies...

Hope you live somewhere where the colors are marvelous in Fall....  I read that our winter this year may be very wet and very MILD.   Obviously,  that thrills George since he hates snow...   I myself like snow (as I'm sure you know!!! ha)---so am still hoping for a little bit!!!!!   I 'figured' that the winter may be mild here since our mast crop (nuts) is quite small this year,  compared to recent years..  That is a 'sign' they say!!!!!!  Well---good comes out of bad you know... George perked up and said: "We'll be able to hike more in the winter this year and see more WATERFALLS".... ha ha

Have a wonderful day!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Grandview is GRAND (West Virginia)

One place we visited on our West VA trip in April of 2010 was to the southern end of the New River Gorge National River area.  That is when we saw Sandstone Falls (click HERE).   SO, because of that beauty, we knew we wanted to go back and see more of the New River Gorge area.

On our trip last month,  we did go back and visit two other areas of that scenic river...  Today I will feature my very favorite viewing area along that river...  This area is called Grandview ---and we were thrilled at the views we had there...  IF this particular area had a lodge or cabins,  I'd come back here in a heartbeat and stay for a week!!!!!  There are amazing trails to hike and they even built a huge platform at the very end where we could almost see 360 degrees!!!!  Yes---there were lots of steps to climb --but being up there made us feel like we were just a little closer to heaven. It was awesome.

I cannot tell you in words how beautiful this area is... There are miles and miles of pure forestland  and mountains---with very few towns in that entire area..  IF you enjoy being out in nature without all of the other life distractions,  you will love this place... Put it on your bucket list!!!!! I'm not sure I've ever been anywhere any prettier than Grandview.

The pictures are good---but this is just one place you have to experience in person to get the real effect...   The picture above shows how well-maintained the paths were to all of the different overlooks..  The morning started out cool--but it didn't take long for us to shed our jackets.

This is from one of the overlooks ---looking north at the river and surrounding areas.  See the rapids on the river below.  In some areas,  people enjoy kayaking and rafting on that river.

Railroading is still very important in West VA ---and we saw at least two, maybe three, trains traveling down there, paralleling the river.

This is George standing at one of the overlooks.   We were there on a very clear and beautiful day.

This photo shows our view while looking straight ahead.  I love how the river winds around the mountains with the railroad beside it.   That is just SO West Virginia.  (Can you imagine how gorgeous that area would be at the peak of the Fall colors????  WOW!)

And this is George standing at the end of one of the overlooks...  Now can you understand why we thought we were on the top of the world?  I don't know for sure --but think our elevation here was about 4500 feet.   I loved seeing these mountains --without cabins and homes and other distractions (even though I'd love to stay here)...  This is 'virgin' land ---and it is awesome.   I'm so glad that West Virginia has claimed this land for preservation.

We met a couple on one of the overlooks who had come back after a few years...  They had been to that exact overlook several years ago to drop his father's ashes over the edge.  The father had lived in West VA all of this life and worked for the railroad... His wish was that he be scattered somewhere over the New River Gorge area...  How awesome would that be!

This is looking south from one of our overlooks.  The views everywhere were great ---but looking into the sun didn't make for good pictures.  Here you can see more rapids below. You may wonder how they keep this area so pure... WELL---it's a national park and it's also so mountainous that there are almost NO roads going into the area, and very few people living around here for miles and miles...

Finally,   a blog post wouldn't be special unless I showed a picture of the two of us together at one of the overlooks... ha ha ha ......

I have more pictures to share from Grandview ----but in a word,  all I can add today is that it is marvelous!!!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful  day.
Hugs,
Betsy