State

Off the Pavement A trip through two rug¬ ged gorges where the old swimming holes are still popular. Hi, OLD TRUDGE For the lct’s-get-away-from-thc- pavement travelers, here's a trip few people have made, yet quite easy. It runs through an obscure division of the Pisgah National Forest, and up rugged gorges or interesting streams. О. K. in dry weather; a few steep places, but not a bad mountain road at all. It has alternate roads, but this is the way I did it. taking a good part of a day: Leave Lenoir going west on N.C. 90, which follows the pretty, well-farmed valley of Mulberry Creek for some dis¬ tance. At Collettsville. you have a choice of following (left) the gorge of Johns River or (right) a road along Franklin Creek. This latter road is paved for a while, and is the one I took. About 6 miles up. it enters the gorge of the Johns River and passes the summer camp of the Evangelical & Re¬ formed Church, a neat recreational and devotional area converted from an old CCC camp. Bishop Came This Way As you travel the gorge of the Johns River, it is interesting to imagine how Bishop Spangcnberg made the trip in the winter of 1752. He had it fairly easy down in the lowlands, but as his party ascended, the way became steep and the walls narrow and high. He went on to camp at the Globe, a surprising cove or flat high in the mountains, rich in buffalo grass. Then he crossed the Blue Ridges somewhere around Cof¬ fey’s Gap and got lost in the rugged Grandfather country. We had it easier than the Bishop. Our road is paved until it reaches the point where a road turns off up to Globe and Blowing Rock — apparently following the same grade Spangenberg used. Here our route curves around and heads back south, leaving the Johns River and becoming a graveled Forest Service road. It crosses Wilson’s Creek over a high bridge and follows that creek into Edgcmont. Old Camp This is the site of an old lumber camp, and it is a little surprising to climb onto a considerable level area, with a store, houses, summer cabins and a boarding house. Trout fishing and hunting in the game refuge attract visitors. Front here you can take three routes to the lop of the Blue Ridges, still 1,- 000 feet above. You can keep on the road you're going and wind around, coming out on the Parkway at about Beacon Heights, or you can take the shorter road up Rockhouse Creek or the road up Lost Cove Creek. I took the Rockhouse road (also called the Roseboro road), since it was recom¬ mended at Edgcmont. Ask for di¬ rections. This road plunges into a deeper, wilder forest twisting and climb¬ ing through a cool woods with thick growths of rhododendron and laurel — probably a good route in mid-June. A Fast Beast A few moments after leaving Edge- mont, my eye caught a large brown spot climbing swiftly up the bank of a deep cut. The bank was so per¬ pendicular, and the animal moved with such speed and agility that I thought it was a mountain lion. Of course it was a deer, putting on a thrilling circus act. A few moments later, another large deer crossed the road, paused a moment, and then disappeared down into the brush down the slope. Realizing that this was the Daniel Boone Wildlife Area. I now began to watch for deer, and, naturally, saw no more. The road tops the crest at an altitude of 3,850 feet and you are on the Parkway at about milepost 308. The Roseboro road is continued on the opposite of the Parkway as a paved lane leading about three miles to Lin- ville, coming into town by the golf course. Return Route After lunch at Linvillc. you can re¬ turn to the Parkway and drive south. Stop at the "Cliffs of Lost Cove" look¬ out on the left (just beyond Flat Rock turnout) and you get a view of the country you shortly will be traveling. Below here, a mile or so, is a Parkway (Continued on page 37) 12 THE STATE. AUGUST 14. 1954