Blue Waters Mountain Lodge

When the first Europeans came to this area, money was scarce and in many settlements, the pioneers depended largely upon each other by “swapping” work.  Probably no better illustration of this interdependence can be seen that in the “log rolling”.  After the settler...

William Gilmore Simms visited the mountains of western North Carolina on many occasions to gather material for his stories.  He had a friend up here that would bring in the various characters of the community.  Sharp was brought in one day to tell Mr. Simms how he got...

From majestic peaks to rich, fertile valleys, the mountains of North Carolina have drawn travelers since the beginning of time.  One of the best paved scenic routes in the Nantahala National Forest that receives relatively little traffic is Wayeh Road (State Route...

Several years ago, it is told that a traveler lost his way in the backwoods of Graham County.  While wondering which path to take, he heard the breaking of twigs in the underbrush, and presently there emerged an overgrown boy with a rifle on his arm.  By way of...

“As the Governor of North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina, it’s a long time between drinks” – a favorite convivial apothegm in America, suggesting that it is time for someone “to set ‘em up again for the boys,” or, in other words, to order a fresh...

Hillside cultivation is no easy matter, and hilltop farming is not much better.  The natural difficulties that beset Western North Carolina hill farmer are the source of much humor and exaggeration; however, the story of the cliff-top farm, where the fields were...

  This story illustrates the life among the mountaineers in Western North Carolina, at no great distance in the past: A doctor in a small town was called about four o’clock in the morning to go about fifteen miles out into the mountains to see a sick woman. ...

Although only incidentally raconteurs and fablers, travelers and naturalists like William Bartram and John James Audubon testify to the thin line that separates nature lore from folklore.  For, like the early chroniclers, they dealt in a truth that was stranger than...

The phrase “stop and smell the flowers” must have been coined by a hiker. When you’re hiking, stopping and smelling the flowers comes easy. After all, no one ever accused hikers of participating in an adrenaline sport. The pace is just way too slow to increase that...