Things to Love about the Blue Ridge Mountains

We just returned from a long weekend getaway to our new favorite place in the Southeast: the Blue Ridge Mountains. This proved to be the most enjoyable escape from life in the Low Country, and as always, left us with a better understanding of the world and of each other. So today, as I sort through pictures, videos, and stories from our trip, I just want to write a post expressing the gratitude we feel towards the opportunity to get away and enjoy God’s creation. This trip fulfilled many desires we have had for so long, and has given us contentment in all that we have been able to do here, perseverance to push forward and make it to the end of this chapter, and a longing for what is to come, in the future near and far.

With that, here is a list of things we learned and loved while exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains:

ONE | The big, vast, expansive views. This is one thing I enjoy and long for the most when being out in the world. The ability to stand in one place and take in the surroundings, and ponder how big the world is and how small I am, and how much greater the God I serve is. Every vista point we came to while hiking showed how far the Appalachians stretch – Nothing but mountains as far as the eye can see. The haziness and the low hanging clouds made me take a second look to see if they really went that far, or if it was just an illusion. Whenever I take in a view as great as this, the following Psalm comes to mind:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Psalm 19:1-6

TWO | The Blue Ridge Mountains really are blue! While hiking through, up close, you can see that it’s really a lush green, but as you gaze off into the distance, the haziness makes them appear blue. I had heard this before, but just seeing it in person and taking it all in blew me away – I loved to stop and appreciate their colors.

THREE | Driving down winding roads through beautiful green valleys, following a creek, and seeing small homesteads scattered around. We saw so many cute farmhouses and barns, and now that we’re trying out our green thumbs with gardening, we are really starting to notice other people’s gardens. I’m pretty sure we were picturing ourselves living out here the whole way through. How amazing would it be to live in the heart of these mountains? (Yeah, I know there’d be inconveniences and struggles that come with living so far out there, but they look so picture perfect that it’s hard not to idealize this lifestyle!)

FOUR | The odd abandoned buildings or stone ruins along the road. We stayed near Burnsville, NC, and as we drove down the highway to get to our cabin, we would pass a giant stone arch along the road. Perhaps it used to be a bridge, but it seemed to served no purpose now. There were several other buildings or similar ruins that we would see as we drove along back highways. We love that they just left them there – not only for how cool the stone architecture looked, but also because it just makes you stop and wonder who lived here before, who lived in those buildings, who built that arch. What was life like here for earlier homesteaders and pioneers?

FIVE | Cooler weather. I could just start and end with that. While we loved hiking in Upstate SC in May, it was so humid and muggy. Of course we just put up with it and enjoyed the hikes anyway, but after hiking in the NC mountains, we now know that it is 100% worth the longer drive. There, elevation of the mountains is over double the height of SC’s mountains, and it is so much more refreshing. It made coming home very difficult, to say the least. Also, I am pleased (and surprised, quite frankly) to report that we had almost a bug-free weekend. Minimal mosquito bites and no ticks found!! I doubt it’s always like that, but we even forgot to put on bug spray EVERY DAY and did not suffer from it in the least! When we returned home, we realized that’s because all the mosquitos are down here, literally swarming from the moment we set foot outside…

SIX | We found all but 1 letterbox in 4 days. Only 1 attempt!! We can’t say that about any other letterboxing trip we’ve taken in the South. It’s a miracle.

SEVEN | So. Many. Waterfalls. I have plenty of adorable pictures of Charlotte playing in waterfalls, I could just write a post featuring the play-by-play. Maybe I will. Now, if you go hiking in the Appalachians and you don’t see a waterfall, were you really in the Appalachians?? Haha, they really are everywhere and if we didn’t have letterboxing, I’m not sure how we would narrow down and pick and choose which trails to take. We could have spent a LOT more time up there, that’s for sure. The outdoor opportunities are abundant!

EIGHT | So while I could go on and on about the beauty of the wide, expansive vistas, hiking in the forests of the Southeast has taught me to appreciate all the different forms of nature growing all around. We learned that the environment in these mountains over 6000 feet above sea level is the same as if you were 1000 miles North of here. I’ll mention more about this when I write about our experience hiking at this elevation, but for now I’ll say that it’s definitely a whole different world up there. The change was gradual as we gained over 3000 feet of elevation, yet there was a precise moment in which we realized “I just started feeling COLD just now!” Also, there were so many flowers in bloom, some such as the mountain laurels that we had seen in South Carolina in May, and others I have yet to identify. I can’t even imagine how colorful and gorgeous this place gets come Autumn when all the leaves turn. Wherever we are, hiking among the fall colors will be a priority for us this fall.

That’s what I have from today – come back later to read about our adventures – featuring several waterfalls, a battlefield, and hiking to a new high point. 🙂