Swimming Hole Just Past the Crazy-Looking Trees
Lower Hoop Hole loop. 4 miles.
It was the lure of the swimmin' hole for grandsons Aden and Matthew on a warm summer day that took us up into northern Botetourt County for this four-mile loop.
The Big Itch
Poison ivy is nothing to be trifled with. Years ago, I wrote a column for this magazine called “In Praise of Poison Ivy” – about how its berries keep birds alive in winters when there is little else for them to eat. Praise isn’t something I’ve been m...
Where Sheepdogs Rule
The National Sheepdog Trials Finals will be held in September in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and offer viewers telling glimpses of these swift, gentle, complex, difficult dogs.
Smoky Mountains National Park - A Magical Place
Bill Robertson is happiest on the trail, in the Great Smokies’ backcountry, when there’s no one else around. He has hiked every trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, exploring its interior over the course of nearly two decades since moving ba...
Land Trusts: Varying Approaches to Saving Land
The Conservation Trust for North Carolina is "a land trust that focuses mostly on the Blue Ridge Parkway , although we also help the 23 other land trusts that exist all over the state," says CTNC executive director Reid Wilson. "We lobby for them, manage...
Vintage Recreations - Salvaging Old Fabrics for New Uses
When I was little, I often pretended to be a fashion designer, using colored pencils and sharpies to create fanciful and exotic dresses, handbags and jewelry like the kind I saw celebrities wearing. But I was not blessed with my grandmother’s sewing ...
New River Float: Ivanhoe to Foster Falls
The National Committee for the New River organized a float this summer from Boone, N.C. to Gauley Bridge, W.Va., where the New joins the Gauley to form the Kanawha. Tim Thornton paddled along and dropped a line whenever he found a wireless connection; th...
Elizabeth Hunter - Monarch Demos in North Carolina!
Contributing editor Elizabeth Hunter will be leading her annual monarch butterfly demonstration on September 26 at the Orchard at Altapass , Little Switzerland, N.C. The workshop will run from 1:00 to 2:30. Call 828-765-9531 for more information.
