After weighing the weather report for the day and the following day, the Cranberry Glades area won out. Everything we had read about the area sold us on this decision. The Cranberry Glades are a unique bog environment, not typically found so far south. A more common location of a bog is Canada or far northern areas in the United States, not a spot a 7+ hour drive south of there. A bog is a freshwater wetland area with an soft, spongy ground because it is filled with peat, partially decayed plant matter.
Read MoreAs we looked up at the heights of the mesa, we could see teeny tiny people atop it and, while it was hard to envision how it would happen, it was clear we had just chosen to scale it. Yikes!
Read MoreWe spent the fifth day of our trip exploring spots very near to our accommodation in Cloudcroft, nestled in the Lincoln National Forest. In fact, one of our destinations was even walkable from our B&B! You would think that our elevation in Cloudcroft - about 8,600 feet - was plenty high enough but no, we headed further up into the mountains, a far cry from the prior day’s visit to the low elevation of the desert!
Read MoreRoaring Run Furnace is the site of a former iron furnace that operated in and around the 1840s, and this site is the only spot within the massive George Washington and Jefferson National Forest’s jurisdiction that is registered as a historical place, making it unique and an interesting spot to visit!
Read MoreThe silver lining of this year of Covid is, for us, more incentive to explore our local area besides the standard, well-known spots. Because of the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Roanoke, Virginia, vicinity, there are a lot of very popular hiking spots, particularly during the shoulder seasons and especially for the fall colors. A few weeks ago, we headed to one such spot and ended up simply eating our picnic lunch in the car before heading home. Being on a crowded trail right now? No thank you!
Read More