September 2018
Today we are at Big Walker Mountain in Southwest Virginia near the border with West Virginia. On the map you can see the 2 major Interstates -- I-77 going north/south and I-81 running SW/NE which parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway to the south. My friend Jackie is south of Rural Retreat (I-81 ex 60) so we drove an hour down from her small ridge, across the flat land, over a series of hills and then winding up US-52 to Big Walker Lookout. It's known for the tower as well as the gift shop, bluegrass/gospel shows and ice cream.
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Big Walker is more of a ridge than a mountain and Big Walker Road runs along the top of the ridge. It's been upgraded with new gravel and a bit wider and more turnouts for cars to pass safely. The edge is right there and really, should you slip off the road, the only thing keeping your car from rolling all the way down the slope is all the trees. In fact Jackie had a great story about back in the day, someone leaving a party up top did just that. Nothing a winch couldn't fix tho....
And yes of course, there were wildflowers all the way up the 4 mile road - roadsides being perfect with more sun and less tree competition.
guess what? more asters….
Once we got to the top a half hour later (I stop a lot going up since the wildflowers are mostly on the upper bank on driver's side) we parked and walked the rest of the way up to the clearing. Along the way you can see remnants of old picnic places, rocks walls, old wood fences, a post for a BBQ grill. Trees and the forest floor have long recovered.
I posted this view from the top while I was there - about the only time I had really good cell reception since the towers were 1/4 mile away. They are there mostly for I-77 to the east and no way do they reach to Jackie's place. At one time there was a cable car running from the lookout to the top here. You can see some the the places where it was drilled into the bedrock to secure. This whole area is now part of Jefferson National Forest but there are existing inholdings like the Lookout, RV parks, private homes and hunting camps.
This small aster growing in the mowed grass may be Hieracium. At least it looks similar to what I have here in FL.
And now we get the the DYCs, damn yellow composites. UYA, unknown yellow Asters, just doesn’t sound right....
but not all unknown asters are yellow, there is also purple and white.
and finally, when I get back there in the spring, I know where to go to see Mountain Laurel. Here it is on the bank along the road with fat buds ready for next year.
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well, the end of another wildflower trip. Hope you enjoyed and see ya in the comments.
PS — ah yes, it’s 9-11 which reminds me Fuck Bush and rot in hell dick cheney.
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