Our friend Lennie Green and the Kudzu Ramblers took home the 2016 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Trophy this year at the NC State Fair. Carla Osborne is a member of the bluegrass band and grew up in Creston. Her grandfather is Albert Hash, a fiddler for whom the Albert Hash Memorial Festival honors each September at Grayson Highlands State Park in southwest Virginia. If you came to our first Shindig a few years back, you will remember the Kudzu Ramblers!
Author: Lisa
West Jefferson Wins Strong Towns Award
Congrats to West Jefferson! The revitalization of downtown in West Jefferson has received recognition by Strong Towns. The Strongest Infrastructure Project Award was given to West Jefferson for its efforts to create a more walkable and pedestrian friendly downtown.
Read about it here.….
Northern Peaks Trail
High Country Pathways has proposed a new trail that could link Watauga County with Mount Jefferson. The project is called the Northern Peaks Trail and would link Boone to West Jefferson via Rich Mountain, Tater Hill, Snake Mountain, Elk Knob, Three Top and Mount Jefferson.
That means the trail would come close to our cabin right off of Doc Harris Road. It’s in the study phase but pretty exciting. It’s about 50- 60 miles of trail. Here’s a link to the map of the proposed plan – the purple line is the trail.
Todd’s 4th of July Celebration
The tiny town of Todd, NC celebrates Independence Day like no other! The Ekland Art Center creates amazing costumes for hundreds of participants to march in the Liberty Parade. This year’s theme was Winds of Changes. The King Bees led the parade singing Pete Seeger’s If I Had a Hammer. Kids, adults and dogs marched for peace, generosity, justice and more.
Another 410 acres added to Pond Mountain
Over the past few years, the Blue Ridge Conservancy has created 2800 acres of protected land on Pond Mountain. The recent acquisition of over 400 acres was made possible by a generous gift of Fred and Alice Stanback, NC philanthropists from Salisbury.
Pond Mountain contains the headwaters for Big Laurel Creek, Little Horse Creek and Big Horse Creek – which are classified as “outstanding resource waters,” and flow into the North Fork of the New River. The views are said to be exceptional on a clear day. This area is also the habitat for rare and threatened species such as the Native Southern Brook Trout and the Golden Winged Warbler.
More details can be found here and here. This is a game land, so please be sure to review the hunting calendar so you are safe! We’ve not been up there yet!
800 acres added to Bluff Mountain Preserve
The Nature Conservancy’s Bluff Mountain Preserve now totals 2880 acres, including rare mountain bogs. This addition of 800 acres to the biologically diverse area will give the threatened bog turtle a chance!
The bog turtle is the smallest turtle species in North America reaching only 4½ inches in length. The turtle is low-keeled, black, brown, or mahogany colored. You can read about the additional acres here and here. The preserve is close to Long Hope Valley.
To hike the property, you must contact the Nature Conservancy through Kristen Travis at bluffmountainpreserve@gmail.com.
Tribute to Doc
Boone recently commissioned a beautiful sculpture of Doc – check it out when you go to Boone – it’s on King Street.
Great Spangled Fritillary
In June we spotted a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly on a gorgeous butterfly weed in our front yard. These butterflies aren’t often seen in North Carolina.
Spring in Long Hope Valley
Early May brings blooms in the valley including this yellow lady slipper. The creek is high and the trillium dot the landscape.
A Winter Hike Along Long Hope Creek
Walking along Long Hope Creek on a winter morning – the only sound was the snow crunching beneath our boots.
