Living in The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina- A Blog
Enjoy the Colorful Photographic Impressions created by Vann Helms
Pearson’s Falls in May
After eight inches of rain this week, I can only imagine how active Pearson’s Fall will be when I drive there today. Three years ago, I did this post, and I wanted to share it again, just in case you missed it the first time around. Enjoy.
Each month, Pearson’s Falls near the town of Tryon, North Carolina, takes on a different persona. The rains have been infrequent this month, so the flow is reduced. The fresh green of the new foliage contrasts well with the ancient granite rocks.
The creek below the main falls offers many smaller falls and cascades.
On the quarter mile walk to the falls, you will pass rock faces dripping with spring water. and covered with tender green plants.
A stone bridge over the creek offers the perfect place to stop and admire the breathtaking beauty of the gorge.
Spring Sunset at Lake Lure
Sunset can be subtle, and this weekend proved that. Not much color, but a soft tranquility. Evidence of last fall’s fires is nonexistent on Rumbling Bald Mountain as it rises above the calm waters. Low humidity and cooler temperatures continue dominate. Sunday morning was 39 degrees in Otter Creek Valley five miles north of the lake.
The bridge between Yacht Club Island and the main shore…
Lake Lure is known for it’s unique boathouses…
Rumbling Bald Mountain with waterfalls from recent rains…
Sightseeing on the lake….
The Song of the Whippoorwill
It just wouldn’t be spring in the Mountains without the melancholy call of the Whippoorwill well before sunrise. A member of the Nighthawk family, this small hunter feeds on flying insects, especially moths, and hides in the understory during the day. But every night from late April to early June, he has one thing in mind, finding a mate, and he competes with other hopefuls in the pitch and intensity of his song. Like clockwork, he begins long after sunset, and reaches his crescendo at the first light of dawn.
John James Audubon watercolor of the Whippoorwill…….
This short video will feature the recent serenade captured from my deck well before sunrise. Turn the sound up and listen for all the other birds welcoming the morning. It’s a very special time of day, but it’s best you keep the windows closed if you want to sleep.
Laurel, Mountains, and Spring Flowers
Mid-May always brings a flurry of new growth and color along the Blue Ridge, and this year is no exception.
Red Hot Poker with showy spikes of tubular orange and yellow flowers. Native to South Africa, this durable wildflower is highly attractive to hummingbirds.
The Mountain Laurel is in the rhododendron and azalea family. In the distance is Hickorynut Mountain along the Blue Ridge Escarpment.
Ragwort always adds a bright touch to mountain meadows.
Wolfpen Mountain is surrounded by every kind of evergreen tree.
Thistle Milkweed at Sunrise
Daises are found in meadows everywhere
Above is 4,000 foot Mt. Shumont and Rumbling Bald Mountain where the “Party Rock” fire over Lake Lure was centered. The darker areas show fire damage, but the lower slopes have recovered very nicely. Below is a view from further north.
Hemlock is not a popular choice for holiday trees, but don’t tell the growers at this Rutherford County tree farm. Years of pruning and shaping have created remarkable specimens that are much thicker than wild Carolina Hemlock.
Spring Wildflowers in the Valley
Because of a late hard freeze, everything is late blooming this year. February was so warm that nature was fooled into thinking that it was March already, and that proved disastrous for the flowering trees, especially the Dogwood and Bradford Pear, and for the local Azaleas and other shrubs. My Princess tree never bloomed, and I feared it had succumbed to the fall drought, I never found a Blood Root in bloom.
Finally, things have begun to open. Here are a few…
Wild Rose
Blackberry
Honeysuckle
Wild Dwarf Iris
Wild Azalea
The last Dogwood
Virginia Pine
Colorado Blue Spruce
The “Greening of the Mountains”
Every Spring, the most dramatic change comes when the trees burst fourth with their new leaves. The variety of green hues is a sight to behold.
Pinnacle Peak above a field of new hay…
Mt. Shumont above Hemphill Road…
Toward Wolfpen Mountain…
Carolina Allspice along Otter Creek
Don’t be deceived by the light sweet fragrance and attractive “flowers”of this bush that grows along streams here in the valley. It is a close relative to the plant that produces strychnine, and can be very poisonous if eaten. I found these growing all along Otter Creek this week.
A watercolor by Mark Catesby from 1731, 100 years before Audubon…
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