Lynda McDaniel
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Testimonials

My book writing:

[The Highroad Guides] are such beautiful books…so well designed and written.  We receive hundreds of guidebooks annually and most are just routine. … The Highroad Guides are very special.  Congratulations.

-Jane Marguelise articles editor HouseBeautiful

Praise for the Insider Guide series: "Everything you always wanted to know ... and then some!"

--Martin Rapp

Travel & Leisure

"This series of well-written and well-researched books provides insider information on great cities."

--AAA Go Magazine

 

Asheville:A View From the Top

The story of Asheville unfolds like a patchwork quilt--exceptionally colorful, pieced together with many decades of determination and hard work, and fashioned from a unique blend of cultures.  And like the handcrafted quilts this region is famous for, its heritage grows more precious with age.

 

The Insider's Guide to North Carolina's  Mountains

Follow the trails of explorers past and present and enjoy the spectacle of the North Carolina Mountains

 

 

The Highroad Guide to the North Carolina Mountains

 

Preface:

If, like those amphibians so long ago, we emerged from the sea and traveled west across North Carolina, we would find all along the way remnants of its ancient mountains, though they lie hundreds of miles to the west... 

 

Preface

If, like those amphibians so long ago, we emerged from the sea and traveled west across North Carolina, we would find all along the way remnants of its ancient mountains, though they lie hundreds of miles to the west. Sand and pebbles and stone eroded thousands of years ago have been carried down the steep mountain slopes by water and wind racing toward the sea, covering the soft Coastal Plain and the wide Piedmont province.

Not until the town of Hickory do we first catch sight of these mountains. Just around a curve in the road, they suddenly reshape the horizon and, for a moment, make our breath catch. They are beautiful, majestic, glorious, and for the lucky ones, home. Magically, once they are in sight, we seem to coast toward them, even though the journey courses uphill the rest of the way.

The mountains of North Carolina are a complex compilation, no easy lines of parallel ridge or ranges. Geographers help us understand the lay of this up-and-down land, while geologists teach us distinctions between the myriad rocks and formations. Both disciplines refer to this region as part of the Blue Ridge province, but for the purposes of our book, we created divisions based on geographic considerations: the way the mountains lie, how people travel within these natural boundaries, and where sites and communities are clustered. Each section is named for a range dominant within its boundaries, whether because, as in the Black Mountain section, those mountains tower above the rest, or, as in the Snowbird Mountains section, because that name has become synonymous with the area.
Finally, as much as this book is about geology, flora, and fauna—the sciences—it is also about the experience of living and visiting here, about appreciating and looking at all the wonderful things found in the North Carolina mountains. Which is, in part, why our hearts do funny turns when we see them on the horizon. We know that within their ancient boundaries flourishes one of the most divers ecosystems in the United States, resplendent with exquisite flowers, towering old growth trees, clear waters home to abundant fish and amphibians, a lush understory harboring mammals and reptiles, and a dense canopy offering shelter to migrating and resident birds. This book is your introduction and invitation to explore and appreciate, conserve and enjoy these wonders in the mountains of North Carolina.
 

Copyright © 2005, Lynda McDaniel. All rights reserved.