Where are the Snows of Yesteryear?

A Snowy Walk on the Blue Ridge Parkway


The Parkway, headed toward Humpback Rocks.

The days are growing longer, so when I finished up the day's projects a little early the mountains were calling. The Skyline Drive and the Parkway have been closed since the big January snow so a walk to the William J. Carter Farm was in order.

The Parkway had not been plowed and there were only a few other hearty souls out for a walk... a group of young people from Ohio. They walked a little way down the frozen Parkway but turned back. They were really not prepared for anything more. A lady in a big SUV drove up to the unplowed Parkway... "My GPS says this is the way to Wintergreen? Can you tell me how to get to Wintergreen? I'm in a hurry and I have to meet people there..."

I assured her that her GPS was telling her the right information but on the wrong day. The snow had closed the road and she'd have to take US 250 East to the bottom of the mountain then follow 151 to Nellysford and then go up the mountain again. A kid in the back of the SUV said "can't you just go through that gate?" I assured the youngster that it probably wouldn't be wise, given the size of some drifts I'd seen. Besides, the Park Service takes a dim view of gate crashers... and yes, they can make a federal case of it.

Now I was alone. The snow wasn't too deep but it broke through when you walked. It was a good workout! The isolation was splendid! You could see the old Howardsville Turnpike off to the side of the Parkway and you could imagine what it was like to live in these mountains long ago.

The William J. Carter Farm had been visited by someone on snowshoes a while ago. I went up on the porch of the house where there is always something going on in the Summer. It was quite a contrast. No music, no quilting, and no smoke from the chimney.

I stayed on the porch and enjoyed the solitude for a while. The landscape was covered with snow and all was silent save for an occasional airplane. I thought of that family of eleven being here far from other folks on a snowy day long ago. Cherished handmade toys would help them pass the hours. Story telling by the fire would open worlds of imagination and memory. Had I stepped into their world... a stranger passing through, my tales would connect them to the wider world. There was no internet in 1890! And there was no smoke from the chimney, no family eager for the news of the outside world. There was just their wonderful little house, its walls full of stories it could not tell. The shadows were getting long and it was time to start back.


Milepost Five is the last one before the Visitors' Center.


The Visitors' Center.