I expect that when the weather gets better up here, my wife, the love of my life, may spend more time here with me.  But she would need to leave spring at its best in our yard at home to join me on here on the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Spring is still climbing the mountain.  The earliest tree buds are now showing at altitudes of about 2500 to 3000 feet, with lots of wildflowers blooming below 2000 feet.  But here at Big Meadows, at 3500 feet above sea level, the dawn temperature this morning was 28 degrees, and it has been snowing horizontally most of the day, but not accumulating.   There are only a few early wild flowers peeking out.

Strange sensation today: I walked out to the high altitude wetland in the middle of the 130 acre Big Meadows around noon today.  With the snow blowing in my ear, I was listening to the spring peepers (tree frogs) calling for mates like it was a perfectly good spring day.   Unlike their normal caution, they did not stop singing as I approached.  They kept on shouting out with joy in the loud rising pitch whistle that makes them so enjoyable to humans who keep their distance.

                                

Two days ago, I drove south along Skyline Drive for an hour and a half to go 40 miles in fog.   The fog was so thick that visibility from the car was 50 to 100 feet.  I then hiked a 1.7 mile trail to Calvary Cliffs and Chimney Rock.  The elevation there was low enough to have a few tree buds bursting open all along the way and a few wildflowers beside the trail.  My return on the trail and drive back to Big Meadows was all in fog except for a few stretches of the drive that had 1/8 mile visibility.

 

Yesterday, I drove north on the drive to areas where the drive is mostly below 2500 feet.  Spring was everywhere.  Redbuds and dogwoods and a dozen different kinds of wildflowers attempted to distract my attention from the many light green shades of trees popping their leaves out of hibernation.  The red maples were showing red fuzz all over.  

 

Spring should be at its beginnings here in Big Meadows within a week to ten days.  I can't wait.

 

                                                        -- Ranger Bob