Springtime In The North Carolina Mountains

We try to get up to our cabin in the mountains of North Carolina as often as possible.  As with all of us,  life is busy,  so we don't get there more than about three times a year.  This year,  we wanted to see what the area looked like in the Springtime,  so we worked the trip into our schedule.

We were delighted to see that the Rhododendrons were blooming.  We have never been to the mountains when the Rhododendrons were blooming.  These beautiful flowers remind me of the Azaleas that bloom in our area,  except these lovely flowers grow in clusters,  as seen in the photo below.

Rhododendron Blossoms

As you can see in the photo below,  there are two Rhododendrons 

growing on each side of our cabin stairs,  and they are just beginning to bloom.

The below photo is the view we see from the front porch.

It was a glorious Spring day in the mountains when this photo was taken.  

It was still a little cool on this day with a chilly breeze blowing.

For those of you who are familiar with The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, that is the mountain chain seen way off in the distance.  The highest peak in the last chain of mountains in the Park is the very familiar Mount LeConte.

And we see the below view from the right side of the porch.

We were so enamored with the beautiful Rhododendrons we saw in the area that we planted a pretty deep rose colored bush on the back hill behind the cabin.   Hopefully it will grow up big and beautiful like some we have seen in the area.

My husband and I were anxious to drive down the mountain road to see all the beauty of Springtime in the mountains.  Of course, I took my camera along to try to capture some of the natural beauty the good Lord has given us to admire and enjoy.

In the above photo you can get a glimpse of the roadway going down the mountain from the cabin.  

Driving down the roadway we travel through complete wilderness for a couple of miles until we reach the roadway leading out of the mountains.

We were surprised to see so many wildflowers growing along the side of the driveway.

Wild miniature Irises

As we continue on down the mountain road and look back through the trees we caught a glimpse of the mountain cabin.   If you look in the top center of the photo you can barely see the top of the tin roof of the cabin.

In the below photo we passed a large patch of the wild miniature Irises.  Each blossom was very small being about three inches wide.

We continued to see many different tiny wildflowers as we drove along.

In the below photo these pretty white flowers also looked like Irises.

We drive through two creeks on our way down the mountain.    

As we continue on our way,  we noticed that someone had recently built a wooden bridge over the creek going over to the other roadway,  giving us the option to drive a different route into town.  This particular creek is too deep to be able to cross by driving through the creek,  as you will see in the below photos.

We have now reached the paved roadway.  It was a beautiful sight to see 

this huge Snowball tree as seen in the below photo.

And I loved seeing this picturesque Springtime garden with vegetables 

already growing,  and preparation for additional garden vegetables to be planted.

It would not seem like Spring here in the South without seeing a

 Dogwood Tree as in the below photo.

Along the way we passed by this amazingly beautiful Rhododendron.

And along the way these beautiful little yellow wildflowers 

were blooming everywhere as seen in the below photos.

As seen below this whole entire field was completely covered in these beautiful little yellow flowers.

I thought they were so beautiful accentuated with the mountains in the background.

And, again in the below photo.

And again!

As we were sightseeing along the way,  this beautiful old country home caught my eye.

This was as close as my camera would let me scroll in to see this house closer.  I especially like the wrap-a-round porch.  What a picturesque,  beautiful and comfortable looking home  perched way up on the hill.

And traveling on along the way,  we see another huge Rhododendron 

accentuating the porch of this old country cottage.

And another Rhododendron blooming beside the porch of this cute country home.

And we just had to stop and try to capture a photo of this huge white Wisteria which was almost completely covering this old abandoned home.  I am sure this old home must have been someone's dream home at some time in the past.

Some more beautiful blooming Springtime flowers.

This creek looked so beautiful and serene,  and a perfect spot for a picnic.

This beautiful old country home in the below photo caught my eye as we drove along.  

There were huge Rhododendrons blooming around the porch of this home also.

The rocking chair sure does look inviting.

I love old barns.

This picturesque old barn sitting at the foot of the Smoky Mountains

looks like it could tell an interesting story, if only walls could talk.

                                               

I did not want to trespass so I did not get any closer to this beautiful white bush.  But, I would have loved to have seen these flowers closer.  The huge bush was probably 10-12 feet tall,  and was so pretty accentuated by the colorful flowers on each side.

It was a cool and beautiful evening as we looked out over the mountains on out last evening of visiting at the cabin.  The world looks completely peaceful from here.  We could hear an occasional hooting of a close-by owl as we sat on the porch enjoying the serenity of this beautiful evening.

Traveling on the highway heading on toward home we caught a glimpse of the last views of the mountains as we continued on our way home.

We hope you enjoyed traveling down the highway with us as we enjoyed the lovely sights of this beautiful North Carolina mountain Springtime.

Wishing you many blessings wherever you may be.