Blue Ridge Parkway Snow Hike
With more than eight inches of snowfall on the Parkway there was no chance of flying to Boston today (where I was due to help my mother who is recovering from shingles). There was no chance of even driving into town.
All trips and blog posts have yielded to the weather. So have the weighted branches of trees laden with a mix of ice and snow.
Joe had to help me pull on my big L. L. Bean boots (which I haven’t worn in approximately 10 years), over my wool mukluk slippers. The ordeal reminded me of all those past years of dressing kids for snow, first my younger siblings, then the kids at the daycare where I worked for many years, and later my own two boys. Once outside we saw that our cabin was hidden under a canopy of snow filled trees. Sadly, a favorite dogwood tree in the Narnia part of our yard had cracked in half from the weight.
Jasmine, our chow, got to play sled dog, forging a path ahead of us during a mile long hike in the snow.
While hiking, I did some investigative reporting while Joe, the hunter, kept his eyes open for animal tracks. We found some rabbit ones (two long feet side by side from hopping) that led straight into a hole in the trunk of a tree.
At the top of a ridge looking out onto Sugarloaf Mountain we enjoyed the view down into Woolwine.
By the end of the hike my legs were tired from trudging in the winter wonderland, but we also felt enlivened, like two kids on a snow day vacation. Returning to our cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney was like returning to our mountain chalet. With boots, socks, and coats hanging from the clothes rack by the woodstove, we remembered what winter is meant to be and what we had been missing about it.
Post note: Watch a clip from our mountain hike HERE. Boston is penciled in for later in the week.
Comments
These pictures are even better than the last post. See you soon. xo
Posted by: Sherry | March 2, 2009 7:26 PM
When was the last time Floyd saw this much snow? Great pics...looks like a wonderland...especially so since you seem to have found the hole of the Mad Hatter :-)
Posted by: June | March 2, 2009 7:38 PM
I love the photo of the lane where the trees are casting shadows on the snow!!
Posted by: kenju | March 2, 2009 7:53 PM
When are you flying out? We lost some limbs off our front hedge of bushes under the weight. I was so excited to see a real powdery wonderland of snow. Now I am ready for the heat!
Posted by: Deana | March 2, 2009 9:21 PM
such lovely photos. enjoy being kids again.
Posted by: sky | March 2, 2009 9:38 PM
BEAUTIFUL pictures of your very picturesque area....! I love the look of ALL that snow just overloading the trees---I know it can be very bad, but it looks so incredibly beautiful!
Posted by: OldOldLady Of The Hills | March 3, 2009 4:25 AM
Colleen, just said a prayer for your mother's recovery!
Did she ever find her snow shovel?
Posted by: Stuart Barden | March 3, 2009 6:10 AM
Thanks, Stuart. I didn't know my mother lost her snow shovel. I'm sure she needs in now.
Posted by: colleen | March 3, 2009 9:51 AM
Great shots. I hope you get to be with your mom soon.
Posted by: CountryDew | March 3, 2009 12:18 PM
You really got me with the Narnia picture. That's the first thing that popped into my mind when I looked at the picture and before I read the caption. Which Queen of Narnia are you?
Posted by: Rick Parrish | March 3, 2009 4:54 PM
That's quite a lot of snow. Somewhere I have pictures of a day when my parents car was covered in snow to the point where nobody knew where it was. We literally had a little over 6 feet of snow that day.
I clearly remember having to dig a small hole just to find the roof of the car.
Good times. :)
Posted by: Thomas | March 3, 2009 6:56 PM
During the blizzard of 1978 in Massachusetts, my sister Sherry and I had to jump out of a bedroom window to get out of the house we were renting because the front door was completely snowed in.
Rick, I think I'm just one of the Narnia kids!
Posted by: colleen | March 3, 2009 8:10 PM
Great pictures, love the pine needles and your auto tag - a perfect phrase for the day. Looking forward to your quilt show pictures!
Posted by: susan | March 4, 2009 7:48 AM
lovely and the last of the season right?
Posted by: sandy | March 5, 2009 9:19 AM
Sometimes when reading your posts about Floyd, I think to myself that I should just pick up and move there because it sounds like such a cool place to live.
Then you post pictures like these and I come back to my senses!
(It's beautiful, though)
Posted by: terrilynn | March 6, 2009 3:05 PM
This is the first big snow we've had in about five years! It's beautiful but doesn't last long. It's the ice that should make one double think a move here. That can be treacherous and we get quite a bit of it, as if Virginia is confused about having northern weather or southern weather. So good to hear from you, terrilyn.
Posted by: colleen | March 6, 2009 3:55 PM
Gorgeous shots... I'm going to miss the winter...
NetChick sent me...
Posted by: Dale Challener Roe | March 6, 2009 11:19 PM
"Let It Be"...well, my car sports a tag with "ODarlin." Sounds as if we are both Beatle (Paul McCartney, anyway) fans!
Posted by: Marion | March 9, 2009 3:54 PM