Rhodos on Roan Mountain

Why is it that some beautiful things are short-lived?  The Rhododendron Gardens on Roan Mountain is one example.  These wild Rhododendrons bloom for just a short two-weeks.  Usually mid-June to early-July.  So, I was adamant that we take a trip to see them since we were here for the opportunity. 

Roan Mountain State Park is just about 1 hour and 15 minutes away, but it was a good excuse to spend the night.  A change of scenery is a good thing.  Mentally, we're not used to being parked for two months.  Plus, we needed to roll the RV wheels anyway - for maintenance purposes.

From 2009_June_RMSP

The Rhododendron Gardens themselves are on USFS land in the Pisgah forest.  It is only 10 miles south of the State Park on Hwy 143, and is right on the TN/NC border.  Paths wind around in loops taking you by a number of pink and purple rhododendrons.  I was surprised how large some of these trees were - maybe 25' tall or more?  I thought they were shrubs, ha!

From 2009_June_RMSP

From 2009_June_RMSP

The State Park is at an elevation around 3,000' and the Rhodo Gardens sit at 6,286'.  So the views from the end of the High Bluff Trail were phenomenal.  Have you ever seen postcards of the Smokies?  Well that was the view we had.

From 2009_June_RMSP

Unfortunately, the afternoon we were walking the Gardens was the day that two children went missing in that immediate area.  You can read the story.  They were found safe 23 hours later.  But it was very sad to be hiking the trails imagining these kids (4 & 6 yrs old) being lost in that terrain.  And when the sun started to drop, taking the temps down with it, my fingers were numb by the time I returned to the car around 8:30 pm.  My heart broke for those little ones still out there in their t-shirts.

Since they still had The Gardens closed to incoming hikers the next morning, we chose not to return to that section to hike the Balds and Roan High Knob.  We'll just have to go back to do that hike.  Hiking the Balds (a naturally-occurring grassy mountain top) offers incredible views.

The next morning we decided on a trail run in the State Park.  Stupidly we chose the Fred Behrend Trail because it was close to the campground.  I say "stupidly" because it was rated a "moderately difficult hiking trail", which made it a challenging running trail.  I tried to explain to Andy that mountain bike trails are good to run on, or look for an "easy hiking trail", but he won out.  And we both paid the price.  We hiked and ran, hiked and ran.  I got so hot, that I had to take off my top - first time ever.  Andy almost ran off the trail when he turned around and saw that!  But the air on my sweat cooled me off - something that doesn't happen in Florida's humidity.  It *was* liberating, though!

Then we toured some other areas in the State Park, like the Miller Homestead....

From 2009_June_RMSP

....did some other hikes, and then cooled off in the Doe River....

From 2009_June_RMSP

A great trip.  We wished we had more time to stay and play.  But being so close, we are sure to return.

See my RMSP Photo Album for more pictures.