Description: After our week in Lake Lure, our plans included taking the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville down to near Cherokee where we would enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The weather the night before our departure from Lake Lure was very stormy and with the storms came much cooler temperatures. For the locals and tourists alike, folks were happy to have a break from the 85-90F temps. What we didn't really want or need was the dense fog that would result.
We left Lake Lure around 9:30am taking the scenic route out of town. Yes that is a very redundant comment as every route to or from Lake Lure is beautiful, but we chose to take a bit of an out of the way route from Lake Lure to Cherokee via the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The fog was very apparent as we looked towards the mountains, unable to see many of the peaks. Once on the Parkway, there were stretches where we could not see more than a car length in front of our van. The weather was very cool, actually too cool for the shorts I started the day with. I think 62F was as high was it got during the day.
We stopped at several scenic overlooks along the way, but more often than not, couldn't see much of anything. We also used a pullout to have lunch in the car. There is a visitors' center at Waterrock Knob (approx. MM 451) where we got some much needed info on the rest of our planned journey into the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park.
Overall, we did around 80 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and unfortunately saw no wildlife at all. With a speed limit of 45 mph and the fog, it took us just over two hours to make the trip. The drive was pleasant enough, although next time I do hope to see more of the mountains and native flora and fauna.
More information on the Blue Ridge Parkway including maps may be found on the National Park Service website: http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/ .
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