Southeast Journey - Appalachia Plants, Hidden Coves, and Friends

Amos and the A-frame

Our plan had been to leave the day after Christmas for the southlands - but plans don't always line up with reality. We were delayed first by complications with a house closing and then by tragedy as my fifteen year old cat, Fran, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. We settled in through mid-February, soaking up every minute we could with our beloved feline. One day in the wee morning hours, she decided it was time to carry onto the next life, and just days later, it was time for us to carry on too. So early one evening, after a flurry of packing up our travel trailer, which we would tow with us for its first journey, and all the backpacking gear we thought we might need, we hit the road, headed south.

Not only was this our first time traveling with a travel trailer but our coonhound, Amos' first big trip away from home. This could be interesting to say the least. Never mind the fact that Scott's truck which would be hauling our Rockwood A192 Hard-Wall A-Frame, had 210,000 miles on it. And after experiencing so many obstacles before even beginning, we found the whole reality of this trip a bit daunting. But we jumped! And landed in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Winchester, VA. On this first night, Amos kept us up past midnight whining and scratching at the door and peering fearfully out the windows. By the time he woke us up at the crack of dawn with the same behavior, we were very tempted to tuck tail and go home, scrapping our plans altogether.

Amos, king of the mountain!

But boy, am I glad we didn't! We arrived safe and sound that night in our sweet second home of Asheville, North Carolina. With help from friends, we managed to park our trailer in my longtime friend, Rachel's driveway, with just twelve inches of wiggle room between us and a stone wall. If you've followed this blog, you know Rachel, as she joined me on the Finger Lakes Trail and joined us on the Florida Trail last year through Bradwell Bay. Yearly we make a pilgrimage here to visit our dear friends and romp in its mountains. This year we had a very special event we were grateful to have made it in time for - Rachel's wedding to her sweetheart Stephen.  Her wedding was a magical event that interwove her community and their union. How special too, to see all those we love in one space! We also had the joy of finally meeting our dear friends, Jodi and Noah's, new baby girl, Zea. What a blessing.

Rachel and Steve's wedding, the barn adorned in bundles of herbs

After a sparkling event-filled weekend, we got to exploring the mountains. Amos was thrilled. We took a long hike on the Appalachian Trail near Rich Mountain and more than one saunter on the Mountains to Sea Trail with our sweet friends, Addy and Alex. Not too many botanical greenies were showing their faces yet, but we did glimpse some unique Appalachian mountain plants such as common toothwort, putty root, galax, and rattlesnake plantain amidst the leaf litter, while old man's beard sprouted in tufts from the bare twigs overhead.

Scott and Amos on the Appalachian Trail near Rich Mountain

Galax (Galax urceolata)

Galax is a skunky-smelling evergreen ground cover that thrives beneath the shade of woodland trees. Although its aroma may sound unpleasant, if you've an affection for the mountains of southern Appalachia, it is likely you feel kinship with this plant. Ever catch an inexplicable whiff of a smell that reminds you of your childhood home or a cherished place? That is what Galax does for me...suddenly and completely I am in these mountains, connected to my memories of all the other incredible times in which I have journeyed through them. 

Common Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla)

Common toothwort is one of the first plants to unfurl its leaves in the cool spring in Western North Carolina. Like many members of the mustard family, it's leaves convey a spicy bite, as does its thin roots which taste like horseradish. Pick a few leaves and dice them finely to add to a sandwich or soup.

Rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens)

Rattlesnake plantain first in soft-to-the-touch in basal rosettes. It's intricately veined appearance distinguishes it from many other green leaves on the forest floor. Despite its common name, it bears no relationship to either the banana-like plantains we eat nor the common plantain that appears on our lawns. It is in fact, an orchid. Flowers are white and appear on tall spikes. 

Putty Root (Apelectrum hyemale)

The leaves of putty root actually appear in the fall but have always been most evident to me in the late winter or early spring when greenery is most sparse. Notice its parallel veins and, if you flip a leaf over, it's purple underside. These leaves will wither away when the trees leaf out, and some plants will send up a flowering stalk. This too is an orchid. It gets its name from a mucilaginous substance that can be obtained from its bulb-like corms and was used to repair pottery lifetimes ago.

Old man's beard (Usnea)

Old man's beard, on the other hand, is not a plant at all, but a lichen. One that I treasure but rarely find in our northeastern hills. There are many species within its genus, Usnea, but all can be used medicinally. This lichen possesses antibiotic-like properties and is particularly effective in treating lung and urinary tract infections. It is also anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-protozoa. A strong medicine indeed. 

A forest road into a beloved piece of property we found near Asheville. The driveway leading into the property ran beside ruins from an old shack and several ol' timey Fords. Scott prayed these came with the property.

But it wasn't just the plants we were inspecting...on this particular visit to Asheville we were on the hunt for property. We have talked for some time now about purchasing property done south to utilize seasonally and flee the fierce wintery weather of the north. Asheville is of course one of our preferred locales as is the middle-of-nowhere Florida. Both are now near and dear to our hearts, so who knows which we'll end up with, but preferably we can swing both at some point!

Towering trees in an Appalachian holler

This search for property was an adventure in and of itself. Have you ever looked for land in Western North Carolina with a very small budget but big expectations of sizable acreage and few neighbors? It does exist...oh I promise you it does...but you better have four-wheel drive, better yet, an ATV or a horse. Our brave friends, Addy and Alex accompanied us and we were guided by our courageous realtor, Stacy Enos.

Alex, Addy, and myself atop Dog Ridge

I use such descriptors because bravery and courage is what you must possess to take such a venture in these mountains. More than once, we found our tires spitting gravel and dirt as we shimmied our way through a rough-cut track up the side of a mountain. That is, after winding through the most idyllic hollers, rife with rushing creeks, dilapidated barns, and mountains you had to crane your head to see to their tops. We were shocked to find that others did in fact live along these red-dirt, rock-riddled roads that thread around the tippity-tops of these mountains. One man we met as we sat idling in the truck, catching our breath and wondering how we might drive back down in the now falling snow, declared, "I've lived here ten years and never seen another truck make it up here!" He  laughed a big hearty laugh at our plight. Yet another potential neighbor of ours sweetly told us, "Well I'd like it if y'all were my neighbors, cuz you have a dawg and I got dawgs." We learned quickly that Amos was our in around these parts. But of all these plots of land, a particular swath in Marshall, NC, just a country mile down the road from Sam's Gap on the Appalachian Trail, stole our hearts.

A very questionable bridge to this special property

We humbly entered onto its sacred grounds in sun, rain and snow and dreamed of carving out an existence in its wrinkled topography. One thousand feet from its base rose Dog Ridge, a saddle amidst the peaks of the Walnut Mountains. In biting wind and freshly fallen snow, we bushwhacked and literally crawled our way to the top. We were rewarded with a 360 degree view of simply more mountains as far as the eye could see.

Dog Ridge in the snow

This place was indeed magical, rich with the history of generations that had called it home, and oh so mysterious, complete with a fabled blind free-range horse said to roam its mountainside. However, there were real-life questions to ask. There was the bridge we weren't so sure would actually hold us that spanned across the Big Laurel River - no one seemed to be able to answer this question - and we never did test it with our truck. There was the question of a forest road of a driveway owned by three different landowners. Then there was the question of just how far we would be from friends and potlucks and dance parties. We decided we'd ponder it. Just a week later...it was under contract by someone else.

A forest road on property

We decided it was for the best. Had these folks not contracted the property, we surely would have made a purchase that would likely have left us living in a yurt without electricity, subsisting on wood nettle and wild strawberries and Scott brewing moonshine. I mean I think life would have been pretty grand, especially if I made friends with that blind free-range horse, but we might have never made it back home to Pennsylvania. Scott picked up a corn-cob pipe at the one and only store ten miles down the road from that timeless cove, and we reveled in the knowledge that our future held so many more places for us to explore. Sometimes the dreaming afterall, is more fun than actually attaining.

Scott feelin' it

The unforeseen bonus in this hunt for land was that we and our friends had the joy of discovering pockets of wilderness we didn't know existed in the now well-populated Asheville area. There are still so many tucked-away beautiful places and what fun we had in finding just a few of them! Thank you Asheville, home to our loving community of friends and majestic mountains, for another incredible visit. Until we meet again!

Amos with his flannel thanks to Alex, looking forward to warmer lands in Florida!

Stayed tuned for the next installment of our Southeast Journey. Next stop: Florida's panhandle!