So I wasn’t the first person to come to the conclusion that it was a great place in the mountains. I still got there…Just 90 years too late.
LITTLE SWITZERLAND — Almost exactly a century ago, a man who was to become one of North Carolina’s most contradictory figures reined in his mule to drink in the view here.
It took awhile.
Heriot Clarkson and two companions were atop the ridgeline that forms the Eastern Continental Divide, and for 360 degrees around them some of the most inspiring scenery in this half of the nation rose and fell into the distance: Table Rock, Mount Mitchell, Grandfather Mountain, Hawksbill Mountain and the deep valleys between them and endless unnamed wrinkles and folds of altitude-cooled forest.
The view had the same effect on me back in 2000. After negotiating the switchbacks on the old road leading up to the crest from the valley below, I too stopped and stood for a good long time on the side of the road looking back down below. It was at that point that I was introduced to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The short run up the road to the “business” strip of Little Switzerland on that early March day was an eye opener…If I recall correctly, nothing was open that day. What was early spring down in Charlotte was still winter up here on the Blue Ridge.
Go read the article at the News & Observer, it’s woth the trip…Just like the little town it is about…At 99, still pretty little – The Old North State – News & Observer.
You might be interested in these posts:
