Loose Leaf Notes

Joe and I wanted to rename Warbler Road “Waterfall Road” because we didn’t see any warblers on the 13 mile drive (just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Botetourt County), but we did see, and pulled over for, several waterfalls. And we drove past several more.    

It was a little early in the season for warbler bird watching, but we did see a few hawks. One was flying with a black snake hanging from it beak.  We saw a couple of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers, because Warbler Road, a nickname for a series of backroads that are part of a late spring warbler migration path, crosses the AT in at least one place.

I had planned to do Warbler Road (about 85 miles up the Parkway from us) for the first time, and with experienced birders, on my birthday, May 17.  Mid-to-late May is a peak time to see the warbler migration through Virginia, but our grandson Bryce has a birthday three days before mine and, as it turns out, his birthday party is set to be held on May 17.  So, I’ll be playing Putt Putt Golf on that day.  Bryce, who will soon be six, has repeatedly told us that Spiderman is Peter Parker and that Parker became Spiderman after being bit by a red spider, which is why we stopped to take the above picture for him. 

Warbler Road is near the Peaks of Otter, the highest point of the Virginia part of the Parkway.  It’s also near the Peaks of Otter Lodge, a great place to stay overnight, I convinced Joe.  While learning about Warbler Road, we discovered the existence of Apple Orchard Falls, a 200 foot waterfall just off the path from the Warbler Road route. Watch a video clip of the falls HERE. And one of a red-wing blackbird call at the Peaks of Otter HERE.

We took the short hike to the waterfall before checking in to the Lodge, driving the bulk of it.  The hike (about a mile each way) reminded me of the Cascade Falls hike (in Giles County).  Like the Cascade Falls hike, the journey to Apple Orchard Falls was almost as cool as the destination.

 All the little waterfalls we saw on Warbler Road didn’t prepare us for the Apple Orchard Falls.  When I came upon it – after Joe, because I was busy taking pictures of icicles dripping off boulders – it felt almost like a Niagara Falls moment.  Because of its size and the location of the afternoon sun I couldn’t get a full shot of it.

Apple Orchard Falls was not named for any apple trees, but for the red oaks around it that have taken on a stunted apple tree-like appearances from years of braving harsh weather on the exposed ridge of the summit.

We call this “The Stairway to Heaven” because the white light at the top was blinding.  The stairway, just beyond the waterfall, and a viewing area was constructed by the Forest Service in 2000.

Joe and I had an ongoing argument about catkins, what I thought were seed pods hanging from the trees and what the warblers stop to eat.  They are actually flower clusters with no petals.  Score “won” for Joe.

We saw what we thought was a black and white warbler, but had a redneck (which doesn’t show here), so, after searching online and finding no such warbler, I suspect it was a woodpecker like the ones I see from my front porch.

The woodland wildflower Trillium was an added hiking attraction.   They made up for not seeing many birds this time around.

______Our World Tuesday