On the Road, Appalachian Mountains [15 photos]

I mentioned in a recent #caturday post how I had taken LittleBit to live with my sister-in-law again, where she belongs. Plus, there was other business that required me to take trips to both Tennessee and North Carolina a few months ago, so there were three road trips altogether.

Most of my life, I have lived in the vicinity of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern portion of North America. I was only away from them about 14 years, total, and have lived in various places in, or near, the mountains for 51 years. I'm currently at the foot of the mountains, and can drive to the top of the closest one in 15 minutes. For 24½ years, though, I was right in the middle of them, with mountains in all 360° around me! I'm definitely a 'mountain girl' at heart.

I think life is more interesting with mountains. It seems rather boring in flat landscapes with nothing around for miles but a few trees or buildings to break the monotony. I lived in central Florida for a few years. During that time, I remember driving on roads where one could see an oncoming car's headlights for a very long time — maybe five minutes — and you're both driving towards each other at 55 MPH (88.5 KPH) and wondering when-the-heck you're gonna pass each other. 😂 In the mountains, though, you know you will be passing distant cars in just a minute or two at most, even in wide-open stretches between the many curves and hills.

The mountains of the east coast of North America are replete with vegetation of all types. Thousands of species of trees, shrubs, and smaller plants cover the landscape in lush greenery. In spring and summer, wildflowers abound, many of them being herbs that have uses in medicine, cooking, dye-making, and other facets of life.

Several ago, I had reason to travel to California on business. I was especially surprised when I saw the Diablo Mountain Range just east of San Jose, California. They were brown, not green, and there were no trees at all, just yellowish grass dotted with an occasional scrubby bush. I learned years later that the Diablo mountains are shielded from moisture-laden ocean winds by other coastal mountains, so the Diablos are under drought conditions much of the year, hence the yellowish grass. The scrubby bushes that appeared sparsely here-and-there may have been chaparral.

I must admit that the scenery was fascinating, although shocking, as every little nook and hollow was easily visible on the sparsely-vegetated and "naked" mountains. My drives through those mountains during down-time from the business was quite enjoyable! But, my preference lies with the heavily-forested, green mountains of the east coast, having been accustomed to them all my life.

Some of the roads going over the mountains are quite steep in places. The following photo shows the view at Sam's Gap where Interstate Highway 26 crosses the state line between North Carolina and Tennessee. There's a sign there with an arrow indicating that all trucks must pull-off the road so they can see the warning signs about the long and curvy steep grades ahead of them and be prepared to exercise due caution.

Routes that are popular with trucking companies that operate large rigs sometimes have special pull-offs that can be used in emergency situations, especially if the brakes on the trucks fail. These pull-offs are often situated at the beginning of a sharp curve and feature an uphill grade with a thick layer of sand that will slow the truck to a stop. Someone I know who has worked most of his life as a big-rig driver said that those emergency pull-offs are extremely rough to use, but certainly come in handy at times. One of them can be seen in the following photo.

Another of those "runaway truck ramps" can be seen in the photo at left, below. Below right, one of the many lovely mountain vistas opens in the distance.

There was an hour of driving in incredibly heavy traffic near cities and towns which necessitated that I remain very alert and cautious. There was a long line of vehicles as far as the eye could see, both ahead of me and behind me, and in all lanes of the interstate highway. It was quite a relief that the traffic dropped to almost nothing when I arrived at this most scenic section of the trip shown in the photos in this post. That was the only way that it was safe for me to snap these photos while driving.

One day, I would like to try mounting my cellphone on the dashboard of the car so I can record a video of this gorgeous route. There's over 30 miles (48 km) of nothing but beautiful scenery on both sides of the road, with only an occasional house in sight in the distance on one side or the other. Most of the sights, though, are just trees, mountains, and the fascinating rises-and-dips in the landscape. It's breathtaking!

One of the most curious things is how these mountains look different on days with varying weather conditions. Clouds, fog, sunlight coming from different angles, as well as the change in seasons throughout the year presents a slightly different appearance each time one sees them. It's never quite the same look.

It's always interesting to see individual mountains standing on their own in the midst of all the others. I love that little "baby mountain" in the shot at below-right! Some people might think it is really no more than a "hill," but the other side drops quite a long way down to the valley floor beneath. So, it's definitely more than just a hill.

The photo on the left, below, is pretty amazing. This is one of the places that had to be cut through the mountain to make a path for the road. I say "cut," but much of the material was removed with dynamite, then with heavy equipment to haul the debris and clear the area for grading equipment.

I remember traveling on the small two-lane country road nearby, years ago while the interstate highway was being built. At that time, small two-lane roads were the only route into that particular part of Tennessee. There were signs along the way asking motorists to turn off all radio equipment in their vehicles because of the blasting. I don't think regular AM/FM receivers would be a problem, but Citizens' Band radios that can transmit signals definitely would be dangerous, so being overly precautious is good!

Thanks for coming along with me on this drive through the Appalachian Mountains! I love these mountains so much, they are in my blood!