Beauty Beside the Road: Orchids on the Highland Scenic Highway

John Muir once wrote: "To the sane and free, it will hardly seem necessary to cross the continent in search of wild beauty, however easy the way, for they find it in abundance wherever they chance to be." Guided by the words of Muir, my wife and I are always on the lookout for “Wild Beauty.” It seems Wild Beauty comes naturally to West Virginia where nature is always at work casting beauty in unlikely places.

For instance, last Tuesday (August 9, 2016), we went in search of a purple fringeless orchid that had been spotted on the Highland Scenic Highway by a member of the staff at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center. Having a rough idea of where the orchids were located, we slowly drove the Highway looking for them. On our second pass, we caught sight of them. Growing on a tall central stalk they stood out from the grasses and ferns growing by the side of the road.

Purple Fringeless Orchid

Purple Fringeless Orchid

That’s what amazes me about Wild Beauty. Like gold, it’s where you find it. In this case a perfectly beautiful and relatively uncommon orchid was just growing beside the road not more than 20 feet from the pavement. You just never know where and what you’ll find when you go searching. What’s more even common flowers can appear uncommonly beautiful. For example, we found some field thistle growing in the berm of the road, too. It was beautiful in its own right. So was some St. John’s wort.

Thistle

Thistle

There’s just so much beauty scattered about we could easily trip over it. More about the beauty at our feet and by the roadside in future blogs. 

St. John's Wort

Photographing Sunsets at Snowshoe Mountain Resort

Most photographers are looking for great sunrise/sunset shots. With plenty of deep mountain vistas, West Virginia is a great place to find perfect sunrise and sunset locations. Bear Rocks at Dolly Sods in Tucker County is famous for its glorious sunrises as is Grandview National Park in Raleigh County. Beauty Mountain in the New River Gorge in Fayette County is known for its fabulous sunsets.

Snowshoe Mountain

Snowshoe Mountain Resort

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went looking for sunset shots at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. Sitting at elevations of 4700 to 4800 feet, Snowshoe Mountain towers above neighboring ridges and highlands. I felt this mountain had to have great sunset or sunrise potential. My hunch proved correct. Checking Bing Images I found a sensational shot taken at Snowshoe by master photographer Ed Heaton.   

11,000 Acres of Beauty

It couldn’t have been more perfect. Mountain ridges receded into the horizon, the valley lay below, flowers graced the foreground, and the sky was ablaze in orange and red. But I didn’t know exactly where at Snowshoe this shot was taken. Covering 11,000 acres, there was a lot of territory to check out at Snowshoe.

Snowshoe Mountain

Fortunately, Charleston photographer and musician Al Peery had visited Snowshoe in the spring and posted some of his shots on Facebook. One of his posts caught my eye. It was from THE SPOT where Heaton took his epic sunset. So I messaged Al, and he was kind enough to give me a “scouting report” of scenic shots at Snowshoe, including the sunset locale.

Look for the Helipad

To find this location look for the Helipad below South Mountain. Its GPS coordinates are Lat. 38.401956, Long. -79.995285. Al Peery says this is the old Hawthorne Trail. It obviously was a ski run at one time. At any rate, the location is picture perfect. There’s a long grassy slope with wildflowers for foreground interest. The view descends into a series of valley bottoms backed by multiple ridge lines. Below is a sunset I got on the second evening at Snowshoe. It isn't epic, but I like it. And I can't wait to go back and try again! 

Snowshoe Mountain

Wildflowers on the Highland Scenic Highway: Part 2

Most people drive the Highland Scenic Highway for the scenery—and rightly so. There’s not another highway in West Virginia that offers such continuous vistas. Nevertheless, as the Parkway crosses such high elevations, it creates and accesses some unique environs for plant communities. Wildflowers and meadows thrive in the abundant rainfall of the high country. Particularly in the summer months, I find as much to see and enjoy by the side of the road as at the vistas. Indeed, it seems as if the entire 23 mile length of the Parkway is lined with summer wildflowers, both common and rare. It’s like a narrow garden winding across the summits of the Allegheny Highlands.

TEA CREEK MEADOW

Across from the Little Laurel Overlook north of the Williams River crossing, lies the Tea Creek Meadow (GPS: Lat. 38.341527, Long. -80.163410). This 40-acre man-made meadow is composed of fill dirt created by the road cuts on the Parkway and is chock full of wildflowers all summer long. Early in the summer, buttercups carpet this gorgeous field in gold. Scattered among the buttercups are other wildflowers such as yellow goat’s-beard and rough-fruited cinquefoil.

Purple Cone Flower

In late summer, large patches of crown vetch dot the meadow, along with purple cone flower, tall bellflower, black-eyed susan, virgin’s bower, field thistle, and teasel, to name a few. Lovely stands of sweet goldenrod grace the meadow in September.

Sweet Goldenrod

You can walk among the wildflowers down an easy path mown through the meadow. The path is part of the Tea Creek Interpretive Trail (TR 489) that runs the length of the field and then descends the foot of the fill dirt pile into a small wetland and beaver pond area where a new set of wildflowers grow. Interpretative signs and benches help educate the mind and rest the weary feet. The trail loops back up the slope of the fill dirt and onto the flat meadow where another mown path leads back to the trailhead. The entire trail loop, probably no more than 0.8 miles, is an easy excursion and well worth it for the wildflower display.

Tea Creek Meadow

RED LICK OVERLOOK

Continuing to the north end of the Highway, the Red Lick Overlook (GPS: Lat. 38.309662, Long. -80.137348), the last overlook on the Highway, is a worthy wildflower stop. In the middle of the parking lot and around the periphery, some gracious souls have planted a wildflower garden where beauties abound. Bee balm, tall bellflower, evening primrose, fringed loosestrife, and a Turk’s cap lily plant flourish in this garden in the wild. The view from the overlook is pretty sweet, too.

Turk's Cap Lily

Bee Balm

Phyllis and I are eager to explore the Parkway again this year, for we know that more beautiful wildflowers are just waiting to be found. Whatever species we discover, a trip along the Parkway in summer is like driving down a wildflower garden 23 miles long. Add the scenic overlooks, and you have beauty afar and beauty at your feet. What more could you ask of a lovely summer day in West Virginia?

Red Lick Overlook