High Country

Wednesday morning we left the rolling hills of Virginia and began to climb to some of the highest parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  As we traveled south, the air turned cooler and we saw different flowers blooming, like the lovely Indian pink:

We had time to stop along the way on this trip, and so we again detoured off the Parkway into Galax, Virginia, where we had some good barbeque.  Back on the parkway, we crossed the Linn Cove Viaduct and then had time to exit again for a visit to Grandfather Mountain, a place we had not seen in many years, with its famous mile-high bridge:

We had time, too, for a hike down to Linville Falls, marking the beginning of the Linville Gorge, one of the wildest places in this area.  I understand that Navy Seals used to train there.  But the path we took was wide and graveled and populated by all sorts of people.

 The upper falls spill into this wild pool, and then swirl away wildly in a spiral below:

Our destination Wednesday night was Switzerland Inn right on the Parkway.

The Inn is a truly magical place and commands a view that is simply breathtaking.  This brief history is found on the back of the restaurant's menu, and I thought it was especially well-written:

"It was June 1909. Grassy Mountain rose steep in front of them as the three men guided their mules cautiously over the rough turf that covered the mountainside. As they reached the open grassland of the top, the instigator of this trip drew in the reins of his mount and sat gazing in disbelief. From all sides, as far as the eye could see, they were surrounded by an incredible dream of misty blue mountains and green valleys. To the west, Mount Mitchell, the Black Brothers, and Celo; to the south, Linville Mountain, Turkey Cove, the valley of the North Fork of the Catawba River, and, in the distance, the South Mountains. To the east and northeast, Table Rock, Hawksbill, and Grandfather; and to the north, Roan Mountain, almost obscured by the brow of the mountain they were on and by the tops of chestnut trees.  Thus Little Switzerland was so named because its sweeping panoramas of deep valleys and distant ranges resemble those in the foothills of Swiss Alps."

We reined in our Mini Cooper and spent the night here.