We eased onto the Parkway this morning and found ourselves traveling a near deserted stretch of road that would have been awesome viewing two or three weeks ago. It was still a very pleasant drive with beautiful scenery and eye-popping vistas of the Smokey Mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see.
The Parkway is a well kept two lane highway with a top speed of 45 mph. It pretty much follows the ridge line, or the "Hog Back" as I often refer to ridge trails in the mountains. The road has many turn outs, or viewpoints to pull off to the side and do photo shoots. There are camping areas and picnic areas and a few historical places to visit.
There was snow along the road from a snowfall they had last week. Two sections of the road were closed to traffic due to strong winds and downed trees. We attempted to drive to the top of Mount Mitchell but it was closed at the Visitors Center. The temperature at that point was 35 degrees so it was probably closed because of ice in the road.
We drove off the mountain and off of the Parkway and made our way to The Cowpens Monument, just inside the border of South Carolina, about 9 miles from the town of Cowpens. We are staying in Gaffney, SC tonight and will attack the Cowpens in the morning.
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