The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1892-09-22
TO THE TOP OF THE ROAM
"A DrGdmland Of Latent Suggestions
Endless Possibilities
WHERE 4 GREAT PARK SHOULD Be.
A Lady Writes. Charmingly of a Mule
Ride to the Roan-Forests of Great
Trees That Have Been Cut Away
but Little-Magnificent Scenery
The Alleghanies VS., the White Mts.

Ride to the ROan-ForeSts of Great
Trees That Have Been Cut Away |
but Little-Magnificent Scenery
The Alleghanies VS., the White Mts. |
From the New York Evening Post.l
LEDGER, n. c., Sept. 1.-Five |
o'clock of a summer morning, q good |
mount and pleasant companion, with
the prospect of an all-day jaunt-what
more could the heart of man or wo-
man desire? When are added the
pure air the beautiful scenery of the
Carolina mountains, the cup of happi-
ness oyerflows.
When it was first suggested that we
two girls should ride alone to the sum-
nit of Roam Mountain, it seemed
reckless. as / was not at all sure of
the trail: but the more we talked the
is good thing to have with YOU if he
is agreeable and reliable: otherwise he
is worse than nothing, for he stands in
the way of your exercising the modest
wits with which Heaven has endowed
you.
AT the hour of starting | had but
one miSgiving-mu No. ,. | know
"Jacko" as | do my own heart-being
woman'S heart, that still leaves
room for the uncertainty necessary in
case of a mule-but this second beast
was stranger, and his disposition
was as yet the unSOlved enigma which
every fresh specimen of his race offers
to the wOuld-be rider. He had been
given the character of gay deceiver:
he looked like an old COW. | reflected
that as my companion was Virgin
| ian of long lineage she knew how to
ride. She sat her mule as if she had
at least ten generations of horseback
| riders behind her: but her skill was
| more severely tested keeping in the
| saddle, which was a misfit, and would
| 60 over the mules head.
We had ten miles to ride before
| the foot of the mountain was reached.
! The lowero part of these mountains
is covered with forests of great trees
| that have been cut away but little.
| The vegetation is very dense: and ear
| licr in the season there is what seems
to Northern eyes an almost tropical
profusiOn of bloOm-dogwOod, wild
crab, aZalea, laurel, and rhododendron
| follow each other in rapid succession.
Strange that while the White Noun
tains have been written about and
| visited every summer for so many
years by crowds of people, these South
ern mountains have till very recently
been but little known. Yet L cannot
| believe that any one would care much
for that New Hampshire group who
had once seen the Alleghanies stretch
ing out as far as the eye can reach
and then the climate is so much finer
! here. Though most of the flowers
were gone, it having been a rainy sea
son, the fungi filled their place anC
We'd with the blossoms in brilliancy
Nile green, terracOtta, old rose, cardi
nal, violet, coral notified with white
lemon shaded with orange; recklesSly
eXtravagant, impossible toadstools be
longing only to fairyland.
AS we neared the summit the great
trees yielded to Staunted growth
Clumps of balsam frs grew here anC
there among the low shrubbery anC
on the grassy slope, giving to thOs,
upper regions park-like effect. W.
left our mules at the Cloudland Hote
and strolled off toward Sunrise Bluff
The day was cool and misty. Th
clouds, like soft, tilmy wells, traileC
through the depths beneath US, nov
hiding, now revealing range upol
range of mountains, dim at last as th
clouds themselves. We sat and gaze,
into the great southwest, dreamlan'
Of latent suggestions of endless posi-
that land of the sky be actuated b.
sordid motives? We gave them 0
our own ideality, the ideality of tn
place and hour. The mere ability
stand on mountain and look int
seven States is smallu thing bu
/, there is something inspiring in thoS
vast depths of air; the lungs eXpan
/ with the sense of plenty; and on thi
' day the filmy clouds made it into
| ,rf+ NI,Or inl,
7 | seemed to breathe draughtS of pur
| love. The veil fell over past and fl
} ture, and we stood alone in the pres
ent, cut off by something fimpalpd
| BILE.
1 Being ravenouSly hungry, we drift
t ed back to the hotel, drawn by tina
g strongest of forces, the yearnin
toward the source of supply. We be
D guiled the time till the bell rang b
: watching the people and guessing b
4 , by their manner and accent from wha
part of the country they came. Whetf
er or not we guessed right in individ
ual cases, the register certainly cor
firmed our general conclusion tina
: Roam Mountain is decidedly cosm(
= = pOlitan, being more accessible tina
l most of the places which are out {
: the region of hay-fever.
o But there always comes time whe
+ one must go down hill. With us, {
n usual, it came all too soon. At thre
: the mules were brought round and W
9 started for home. For mountain
4 climbing, mules have their advantage
: and their disadvantages. They go u
+ and down steep places with create
r care than horse, and there is rool
n for their little feet on very narro
. lodges. But they fall away'' so j
v front that there is nothing to kee
: the saddle in place, and going down
steep incline, you may be over yol
animals head before you know it.
We were eight miles from hon
e when the floating clouds gathere
, themselves together and emptied the
IS contents upon our heads. Mountai
l. showers are very local. You can som
7, times step out from under them O
J. dry ground; but they mean busines
k One might as well stand under
s waterfall. In few minutes we we
o drenched to the saddle Innings, bl
h nothing could dampen our spirits, ar
l. this seems to be land where one
n preserved from consequences. Certai
|. it is that a warm fire, dry clothes, ht
current-wine, two grains of quinn
If supper, and bed proved such efficiel
e restoratives that I should not ha'
4 minded repeating the trip on the fc