Visit the Stars

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is hosting a star gazing event on Friday, September 7 at one of Haywood County’s clearest views of the sky -Purchase Knob, home to the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Astronomy Club of Asheville will lead an exploration of the night sky at this high elevation site with a 260 degree unobstructed view of the sky. Visitors can expect to see the planets Neptune and Uranus; the wonderful starry glow of our Milky Way Galaxy stretching across Purchase Knob's dark skies; the beautiful spiral disk of the Andromeda Galaxy; the numerous star clusters of late summer and early fall; as well as several binary star systems. The event starts at 7:30 pm with an indoor orientation, which will be held rain or shine. The Learning Center is located at 5,000 feet in elevation so please bring warm layers. The program is limited to 60 people so reservations are required and can be made by calling the park directly at (828) 926-6251. Purchase Knob is located off US 276 near Maggie Valley, North Carolina. It is not recommended to use a GPS or an internet map service to find Purchase Knob, but the park staff can provide reliable directions. -NPS-

This just in...Gatlinburg Loop Closed....at times

Just in... Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced plans today to complete road projects on the Gatlinburg Bypass and a section of Newfound Gap Road near the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Work will begin on August 29 and is expected to be completed by September 1. Weather delays, however, could extend the project into the Labor Day weekend. To minimize impact to visitors, all work will be completed at night. The bypass will close each evening at 7 pm and reopen at 7 am the following morning. Newfound Gap Road will not close completely, but will be restricted to one-lane traffic from 7 pm to 7 am. For additional information call 865-436-1207

Natural Tunnel State Park in Virginia

Last week I spent 4 days in a lodge at this state park located in southwest Virginia, while attending a business meeting for an organization to which I belong. The park consist of 850 acres and has a few short trails to hike with no backcountry sites, given its limited size. Though it is a very beautiful area with some picturesque vistas.

The park has a swimming pool complete with a tall spiraling slide, meeting facilities which were very nice but had limited access for some cell phone services, and what I thought was a relatively good wifi connection. I hiked daily on the short trails in order to clear my thoughts and relax and it worked with views and blooms; Passion Flowers I believe, like you see in the pictures. Peace.