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    Our Walk in the Rain

    That spring day, the clouds started invading a sunny sky. Led and I had a few minutes during our lunch break to walk back and forth on the sidewalk a few steps away from our high school building. That’s when we felt it.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Stories

    1

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    Way High Up On the Hill

    For those who have lived in these mountains for the majority of their lives, one of the pinnacle destinations and hikes has always been to Mt. Le Conte on the North Carolina/Tennessee border.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Stories

  • Operation Eradicate the Invasives

    Operation Eradicate the Invasives

    I had looked at them long enough, threatened to get rid of them since the moment I first spied their wretched branches invading my sacred forest. For the last time I gazed through my sliding glass door with nothing but contempt and hostility.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Stories

  • Barter Theatre turns Ninety-Two

    Virginia’s Historic Barter Theatre Begins its 92nd Season

    Unlike most 92-year-olds, the famed Barter Theatre grows more active and vibrant with each passing year. Founded in 1933 in the town of Abingdon, this “state theatre of Virginia” continues to delight audiences of all ages.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Art+Music

  • The Appalachian Way

    The Appalachian Way

    The Appalachian spirit is one of resilience. Generations of people who have called these mountains home know how to weather storms, rebuild, and come back stronger.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Outdoors

  • Mules Save Mountaineers

    Mules Save Mountaineers

    Imagine, if you will, a nice piece of land, a manageable 50 or so acres that run from ridgeline to riverbank. A place where your people put down roots having fled “The Mother Country,” whether that country was Ireland, Scotland or England.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Stories

  • Alum Cave Bluffs via Alum Cave Trail

    On the Trail in the Smokies

    If you’re looking for a hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that offers solitude—and there actually are many—Alum Cave Trail is not your path. OK, perhaps it could be on a February weekday in a cold, driving rain.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Outdoors

  • Endangered Hellbenders

    Photo by Ben Dalton, courtesy of NC Wildlife Resources Commission

    Amid Damage From Helene, Hellbenders May Get Endangered Species Listing

    By now, the story of Hurricane Helene is a tragically familiar one: the endless rain, the swollen rivers, the angry water indiscriminately destroying lives and homes. The storm killed more than 230 people across five states.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Outdoors

  • Migratory Wonder

    Photo by Sandy Vandenburg

    Word from the Smokies

    Before National Geographic published its famous 1976 cover story detailing the search for the monarch butterfly’s wintering grounds, nobody knew where these strikingly beautiful creatures vanished when the weather grew cold.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Outdoors

  • Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke

    Andy Sapp photo

    'Til the Wheels Fall Off

    Amid this modern era of rock music, Blackberry Smoke is the absolute epitome of what it means to plug in your guitar, crank the amplifier and tap into that sacred two-way interaction of sound and scope.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Art+Music

  • Unearthing the Truffle

    Unearthing the Truffle

    In the woods of France, Italy, Croatia, as well as the Pacific Northwest, the piney-woods of North Carolina, and even the hills and hollers of Appalachia, grows a mysteriously delicious tuber called the truffle.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Food+Drink

  • Offbeat Mountain Edibles

    Offbeat Mountain Edibles

    My generation of mountain folks, like every generation before, survived and, in many cases, thrived with a “make do with what you’ve got” mindset.

    Apr 1, 2025

    12:00 AM

    Food+Drink