Western N.C.: Let the explosion of fall colors begin

"Leaf hunting and viewing will consume travelers, tourists and native North Carolinians alike over the next few weeks as colors in the high forests reach an exhilarating peak," says the Asheville Citizen-Times. "It is anybody's guess where the leaves will change first or fall last but conventional wisdom says the higher the elevation, the later the color change."

The paper goes on to recommend 10 "spectacular vistas" from which one can "experience the remarkable hues of changing maple, ash, oak and more," starting with the highest elevations and making their way down ... down ... down.

These images are my own. Click through to the article for more.

Blowing Rock

Hayesville

Chimey Rock Village

More good news for Chimney Rock Park

The Charlotte Observer's Bruce Henderson reports that a $3.5 million grant and private fundraising will "help protect a landmark mountain in Rutherford County that will likely become part of Chimney Rock State Park."

The state paid $24 million, including a private donation, for the 996-acre Chimney Rock Park tourist attraction in January 2007. The new state park now covers 4,005 acres, largely because of acquisitions by the Nature Conservancy and local land trusts, which have worked for two decades to protect the Hickory Nut Gorge.


The nonprofit group said Tuesday it will buy 357 acres on the flank of Rumbling Bald Mountain, on the gorge's north side and one of its most important undeveloped tracts. The money will come from the state Clean Water Management Trust Fund and a $3.25 million campaign by the conservancy. ...

Rumbling Bald, distinctive for its series of three mounds and high rock cliffs, rises to about 2,800 feet. Oak and hickory forest covers much of the tract, which harbors rare spiders, salamanders and wood rats. Ravens nest in the cliffs and bats hibernate in large fissure caves.


Money to develop a master plan for the new Chimney Rock State Park has been approved, and public meetings will likely be held early next year. When complete, said deputy state parks director Don Reuter, the park “will be a crown jewel in our system.”

Quick hits: Birthdays, growth, death & all-around nice people

A lot to get to today, folks ...

Andie at 50
"If you're not sure 50 is fabulous, you need to talk to Andie MacDowell," says the Charlotte Observer.

"The model/actress known for her work in films such as 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Sex, Lies and Videotape' and as a face of L'Oreal beauty products for more than 20 years says her life is full, frantic and fun. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

" '(Baby boomers) are not children, and we want to see our age reflected in the media,' she said in a recent interview with the Observer.

"The Carolina girl who celebrated the big 5-0 in April is the keynote speaker at the Dress for Success 'Look at Her Power' fundraiser next Thursday at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart. ..."

McDowell has lived in the Asheville area for years.


Carowinds to add new roller coaster
"A new 'boomerang-style' roller coaster is coming to Carowinds next season, the amusement park announced [yesterda]," according to the Observer.

"The 125-foot-high Carolina Cobra, the park's 12th and second-tallest coaster, will travel the same track forward and backward. It'll be located near the entrance of Boomerang Bay, Carowinds' water park.

"Riders will be pulled up 125 feet and sent down a 120-foot drop, with a 65-degree descent into three inversions, including a cobra roll and a 360-degree loop, according to a news release. The train will then go up another hill, then released backward along the same path. The ride will have a newly designed, exclusive 28-passenger train, the first of its kind in the United States, according to the park. ..."


Chimney Rock State Park to grow
"The Nature Conservancy has acquired 56 acres that will eventually be included in Chimney Rock State Park, the group said Wednesday," according to (who else?) the Observer.

"The conservancy has worked since the early 1980s to protect land in the area west of Charlotte, called Hickory Nut Gorge.

"The new acquisition will protect property between the state park and the conservancy's Bat Cave preserve.

"N.C. legislators created the state park at Chimney Rock, a longtime tourist destination, in 2005. The state has bought about 3,500 acres for the park in Hickory Nut Gorge. ..."


Death of an American giant
"The country's tallest eastern hemlock, reaching to the sky from a cove of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, towers 173.1 feet from its 5-foot-thick base to its last pencil-thin sprig.

"The tree is 400 years old, armored in rough bark, and dead," says that paper in Charlotte.

"Millions of hemlocks across the Southern Appalachians are dying, victims of an Asian insect that has moved faster than efforts to stop it. The trees' collapse will change these forests, from warbler nesting habits to the temperature of trout streams, unlike anything since the 1930s. That's when a foreign fungus finished off another keystone tree, the chestnut. ..."


N.C. residents are nice folks, according to study
"As Andy Griffith might say, we beat everything.

"At least when it comes to being nice," says the News & Observer.

"Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom surveyed more than 600,000 people to develop a personality map for the United States. North Dakotans are more sociable. People in New York are more high strung.

"As for Tar Heels, we're among the 'friendliest and most dutiful,' the study said.

"It took six years of research to reach that conclusion. A few reruns of 'The Andy Griffith Show' probably could have saved some time and said as much. Still, academic proof is welcome.

" 'I'm happy to see that others are learning what we have known for a long time -- that nothing could be finer than to live in North Carolina,' Gov. Mike Easley said. 'People here are pretty cool.' ..."

More growth for Chimney Rock

"The Nature Conservancy announced Wednesday the acquisition of land on Rumbling Bald Mountain that will provide public access to a popular winter climbing area.

"The conservation group plans to sell the land to the state for inclusion in the new Chimney Rock State Park," said the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"The Nature Conservancy bought the current tract of land from John Haywood Moore for $1.3 million. Horak said the inclusion of the 46-acre tract will help to protect rare plant species and increase outdoor recreation.

"The land will create a public access point to the mountain’s Cereal Wall, which can be reached now only through private land, said Sean Cobourn, past president of the Carolina Climbers Coalition. ..."

D.G. Martin on our mountain 'lighthouses'

One of North Carolina's greatest ambassadors, D.G. Martin, has penned a wonderful column on North Carolina's mountain "lighthouses."

"Our mountains, beautiful as their rolling, forested peaks are, provide few landmarks as dramatic as Grandfather," he writes. "Even Mount Mitchell is masked by other nearby high peaks in the Black Mountain range.

"However, a few other North Carolina mountains or outcroppings stand out from their surroundings in ways that leave their viewers in awe.

"Stone Mountain (near North Wilkesboro), Pilot Mountain (near Winston Salem), Crowders Mountain (near Gastonia), and Chimney Rock (near Asheville), along with Grandfather, are among my favorites. Like the lighthouses that are symbols of our coast, these outcroppings are my mountain icons. ...

"Like our lighthouses, each of these mountain icons has its special story. 'Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas: A Field Guide to Favorite Places from Chimney Rock to Charleston,' by UNC-Chapel Hill professor Kevin G. Stewart and Mary-Russell Roberson, persuades its readers that the geological story of the creation of each of these landmarks is almost as compelling asits visual impression. ..."

Hugh Morton's photo of the Charlotte skyline from Grandfather Mountain courtesy of Blue Ridge blog.

Quick hits: Park news galore

Water park, resort to open near Charlotte
"A Wisconsin developer confirmed Tuesday it intends to build an indoor water park and resort hotel in the Charlotte area this year, costing around $100 million and bringing about 400 jobs," according to the Charlotte Observer.

"Great Wolf Resorts' project would be the first of its kind in the Charlotte region and only the second in the Carolinas, an industry expert said.

"The company said it had not made a final decision on where its Great Wolf Lodge will go. But one place under review is in Concord between Lowe's Motor Speedway and Concord Mills mall. Another is in Fort Mill, S.C.

"Public incentives have been used to lure Great Wolf to other cities. A package worth more than $5 million, for example, helped attract it to a site outside Fort Worth, Texas. But it's too early to say what incentives, if any, the company will seek here, Great Wolf spokeswoman Jennifer Beranek said. ..."

Chimney Rock Park may be renamed
"With the state's $24 million purchase of Chimney Rock Park on Monday, the General Assembly is considering changing the name of the planned Hickory Nut Gorge State Park," according to the Hendersonville Times-News.

"The new name as specified in Senate Bill 773: Chimney Rock State Park.

" 'Typically all our state parks are traditionally named in recognition of their significant natural features,' State Parks Director Lewis Ledford said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"So Chimney Rock, with its iconic, flag-topped spire jutting from the side of Hickory Nut Gorge, will join the other monumental North Carolina land forms with state parks named after them -- Mt. Mitchell, Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock.

" 'I've heard it described as one of the top five most recognized landmarks on the East Coast,' Ledford said. 'I don't know what the other four are, perhaps Stone Mountain, Georgia, Grandfather Mountain. I think we all recognize that rock formation with the flag.' ..."

Carl Sandburg historic site expansion gets OK from House
"A 115-acre expansion of the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site was approved Wednesday by the House," according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

"The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville, easily passed 268-150 after several Republican House members attempted to delay or pare down the expansion.

"The state’s Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have introduced a companion bill, which is pending in the Senate. The Bush administration has expressed support for the idea.

" 'Carl Sandburg was a national treasure,' Shuler said of the famous poet during House debate. 'We in North Carolina are proud to claim him as one of our own.' ..."