The Blue Ridge Parkway wanders through a very unspoiled and scenic portion of southern Virginia's mountains. It is an especially magical place in late fall, when most of the tourists are gone, the afternoon shadows grow long and dark, and the breeze has a cutting edge that hints of winter storms to come. Mabry Mill is a busy place in summer. These were taken the last weekend in October.
Just a few miles down the road from the mill, Groundhog Mountain was even more deserted and windswept. This view of nearby Buffalo Mountain is not significantly different than it would have been 100 years ago, when early settlers built primitive fences like this around their farms and pastures. This family graveyard is all that remains of the original homestead:
