Nature

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.