Nature

Meyersdale

| edwinridout

The old Western Maryland Railroad station at Meyersdale is now the Meyersdale Historical Society and a great rest stop for cyclists, walkers, and runners on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail. That trail (which Trudy H and I bicycled three years ago) runs 156 miles from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, where it connects to the C&O Canal trail for another 184 miles to Washington DC (I haven’t done that leg yet). Only about a mile from the Meyersdale Station is the Salisbury Viaduct, 1900 feet long, and 100 feet above the Casselman River and US Route 219. The viaduct selfie below is from April, when I had a run from Linda McD’s house a couple of miles towards Pittsburgh and back, then a couple of miles towards Cumberland and back. This view of the viaduct I snapped from the car on our Export trip in May.

Belmont

| edwinridout

A few new pics of Belmont, the Gari Melchers Home and Studio, Falmouth, Virginia: the recently restored horseshoe staircase, the freshly repainted putta garden statue, the summerhouse looking down on the Rappahannock River, the library, the dining room, Capt John Smith AD 1608, river view looking north from near the house.

Great Smoky Mountains

| edwinridout

Nov 9th-11th at the Swag in western North Carolina, elevation 5,000 feet.

We started with lunch in their tree house.
A view from the porch near our room
Marty, Sandy, Jan, Edwin, on the guided nature hike
A dozen wild turkeys grazed on the lawn below the lodge but only two would stand still.
Our new Swag walking sticks
While I was out for a run, some hikers told me how to find Ferguson’s Cabin. Built 1874, it’s said to be the highest cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at 4700 feet.  Fergusons lived and farmed here until 1902, growing potatoes, sliding them down the side of the mountain as there was no road. Cabin was reconstructed in 1974 from original timbers.
Our one full day had perfect weather . . .
. . . but next morning’s jog to the marker atop Hemphill Bald (5,540 feet) was wet, windy, and in the clouds.