Trust and Luck

If you choose to come off Max Patch Mountain on the North Carolina side, you have the opportunity to visit two of the more interestingly-named spots in western North Carolina. Turning toward Hot Springs on NC 209 we passed through the community of Luck, which as near as I can tell consists entirely of the now-closed Pink J. Plemmons store.

Vicki Lane fans will recognize the name from her third novel, Old Wounds. Apparently Pink Plemmons has died and no one has chosen to keep the business open. It remains a picturesque location, but how long it can survive is an open question. Given its appearance, I couldn't resist playing with the photographs a little.

There, isn't that interesting? I love the chair with the broken rocker!

The second is Trust, located at the intersection of NC 209 and NC 63.  Trust consists primarily of the Trust General Store and Cafe, a spot well worth stopping in. We had a large scoop of ice cream, which was most welcome on a warm autumn day.

It's not clear exactly how the communities got their names. The Trust General Store and Cafe's web site has stories about the post office needing names, a dog, and a letter. Whatever the reason, these communities ended up with names that stick in the minds of visitors.

Del Rio, Tennessee

If you come off Max Patch Mountain on the Tennessee side, the first community at the base of the mountain is Del Rio, Tennessee. Once a thriving lumber town, much of Del Rio now lies in ruin. The post office and businesses have moved out to highway US-25/70 leaving the old business district boarded up. It's more interesting to a photographer than the new business district, but that doesn't bring in any income to the remaining residents.

Del Rio has long had a reputation for moonshining and cockfighting. The former is shared by much of Appalachia, but the latter is not. A raid by federal agents on a cockfighting operation in 2005 led to the arrest of 143 and the confiscation of more than $40,000 in cash. Authorities described the operation as the "largest and oldest illegal cockfighting pit" in the United States.

By coincidence, Del Rio is located in Cocke County, named for William Cocke, one of Tennessee's first two U.S. Senators. Cocke has the distinction of having served in the legislatures of four different states: Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi.

Sunday Morning

Silent Saturday

Max Patch

Max Patch Mountain, near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, is what's known as a grass bald. The summit was cleared of trees in the 1800s for pasture for cattle and sheep. Today it is maintained in an open state by periodic mowing and burning by the U.S. Forest Service. The result is a 360-degree view of the Appalachian Mountains from an elevation of 4,629 feet (1,411 m).

I first visited Max Patch maybe 20 years ago during a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the summit.

And, yes, I kept a camera handy way back then. I had told my wife about it, but she had never been there until a trip through western North Carolina last year brought us to a sign that read "Max Patch Road." Some things you just don't pass up.

There is a parking lot below the summit which still leaves a bit of a climb. The Appalachian Trail enters from the right, for north-bound hikers, and joins this trail near the summit. Snow Bird Mountain is down the trail to the right and Lemon Gap is straight ahead.

When we were there in June, Flame Azalea was blooming along the road near the parking lot, and Mountain Laurel was blooming further up the slope.

And taking a break along the summit was a group of through-hikers.

You ask the usual question, and get the usual answer:

"Where you headed?"

"North"

Mayberry

Fans of The Andy Griffith Show, which ran on television 1960-68 and has been rerunning ever since, know that the Mayberry portrayed was a fictional representation of Griffith's boyhood home, Mt. Airy, North Carolina. But Mayberry does exist, and it's only 22 miles away from Mt. Airy.

Mayberry is just across the state line in Virginia, and was a postal address until 1922. Little remains beyond the Trading Post, which today is more tourist shop than a working general store.

Griffith supposedly visited the Mayberry Trading Post several times growing up, but there's little evidence that it actually influenced the naming of the fictional town. Griffith is reported as having given credit for the name to one of the show's writers. Still, it's a good place to spend a few minutes. They were cooking apple butter outdoors when we were there in October. And that's just about the best thing you can put on a buttermilk biscuit!

Come, set a spell

The hawk's flying low this evenin'.

Yep, an' that wind has teeth, too!

Henry, put another stick in that stove.

How's your momma doin'?

Your kids comin' in for Christmas?

I finally got the last of that hay put up today.

That's a load off your mind.

Did Charlie ever find his hound?

Did you hear about that big wreck over at Elgin last night?

Who's pickin' this weekend?

Well boys, I got to get on home.