Late July, 2022
I’m back at the mountain family property at Fancy Gap, Virginia, clearing paths and finishing construction of the stone labyrinth. There have been storms; trees have fallen, and mushrooms are growing all around (including in the labyrinth).
I’m learning to identify these mushrooms, so if you know these species, let me know and I’ll update the names here.
Due to a late start of travel amid storms, it was dark well before I reached the mountains. So I set up camp at Rocky Knob campground, on the Blue Ridge Parkway about 40 minutes northeast of Fancy Gap. It’s a clean, well maintained campground, with only a few sites occupied. Wind swept through the wooded hilltop as I slept, whistling songs of coming rains that greeted attendees at FloydFest down the road.
While in the area, I stop in Floyd, the main town of the eponymous county. Scattered showers fall as I pass stores not yet open and scurry into the Harvest Moon food store. For a town of this small size, there are many stores and organizations here for local arts and crafts, as well as local food. A few miles west of Floyd, Wildwood Farms General Store has live music on Saturdays and a lunch counter, where I ordered a delicious grilled cheese sandwich filled with mushrooms*.
Whenever I die If only I could become a mushroom On a lush mountainside
I was a willow last night in a dream
I bent down over a clear running stream
Sang you the song that I heard up above
And you kept me alive with your sweet flowing love
Heart, “Crazy On You”
BARTRAM TRAIL, FRANKLIN NC
After Fancy Gap, I travel to Franklin, NC for a few days of work. It’s a favorite area, and I’ve written about it before, but this time I learn of a hiking area near town with multiple waterfalls. The Bartram Trail goes close to Franklin on the way northwest to Wayah Bald, where it meets the Appalachian Trail. It is named for William Bartram, botanist and writer, who explored these mountains between 1773-1777. The waterfalls are lovely and serene, and mushrooms grow along the path uphill following the stream (Wallace Branch). At one cascade, a large rock hangs over two mushrooms, and this is a perfect spot to sit, meditate, and write.
SCENES FROM HIGHWAY 58
Floyd/Fancy Gap can be reached from Hampton Roads directly via US-58, but it’s not a fast ride. Between Emporia and Danville, the highway goes through the towns and some parts feel like a time portal. Travelers pass a variety of historic sites, too many to visit on a single trip. But here are a few quick ones.
Buffalo Springs wayside offers a water spigot full of lithia-rich water and small picnic area, but from the mid 1800s through the mid 1800s, here was a large healing resort. Water from this spring was bottled and sold as “Buffalo Mineral Water” beginning in 1874, across the USA and in Europe. But where did the Buffalo name come from?Will.i.am Byrd ii, surveyor of the Virginia/NC line for the Virginia colony – who also named the Great Dismal Swamp (see previous story) – came through in the 1700’s and saw a bison here by the creek.
We had no other drink but what Adam drank in Paradise, though to our comfort we found the water excellent, by the help of which we perceived our appetites to mend, our slumbers to sweeten, the stream of life to run cool and peaceably in our veins…
William Byrd ii, about Buffalo Springs
I fill my bottle with some of the water from this spring. It tastes very good, slightly sweet.
Here is an article about the history of the Dan River Mills, with photos of the interior and workers. The mill was in use from 1882 to 2006, but now the building is closed and fenced off. Danville is the largest city on highway 58 in the Piedmont, built along the river, with modern amenities and businesses along with its historic buildings.
[*As I write this, news comes of flash flooding in the valleys of Eastern Kentucky and far western Virginia, from this same storm system. A stalled front aided by orographic lift and seasonally hot, humid air leaves hill towns inundated, with as of now 37 human lives lost and many more missing. I think of these folks as I walk through the woods
Bartram Trail Access
1719 Ray Cove Rd, Franklin, NC 28734
arianna's creative travels 