Rockin’ at Rocky Fork with Mars Hill College
On Sunday, Septemeber 9th, David Ramsey led Mars Hill College 17 faculty and students on a hike to the protected 10,000-acre ecological treasure, known as Rocky Fork. It was the perfect day for some learning, hiking, and fishing.
Ramsey has been leading hikes for politicians, concerned citizens, and anyone else interested in protecting Rocky Fork’s vulnerable land since the mid-nineties, so when Karen Paar, director of The Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies at Mars Hill College, approached Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy about leading a hike with her department for this fall, SAHC suggested David Ramsey. Read more
We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to appreciate the Highlands of Roan than the one that graced this year’s June Jamboree! On Saturday, June 23rd, hikers on each of six adventures enjoyed gorgeous skies – from a long, sunny trek on Grassy Ridge to a splashing good time in cold creek waters. Here’s a brief look at what you may remember – or may have missed. This year, we wanted to let our hikers and hike leaders tell the story of the June Jamboree in their own words… Enjoy their adventures, and we hope you’ll join us next year! 
It was the perfect storm for finding mushrooms last weekend in gorgeous Yancey County. In recent days, thunderstorms had soaked the ground, paving the way for an explosion of boletes, chanterelles, little brown mushrooms, and many others.
Sunday, May 20th, was a beautiful day for a hike in the Highlands of Roan. Thirty six ambitious hikers joined SAHC and Highland Brewing Company for a full day of hiking.
The first weekend of October, we joined up with Lighten Up Yoga for a wonderful Sunday afternoon of hiking and chaturangas on beautiful Hemphill Bald, above Maggie Valley, NC. Folks came out for a gorgeous day that warmed up nicely. Once up top, everyone practiced poses under the tutelage of Lighten up Yoga’s instructor, Kim Drye, for an opportunity to get out of the studio and practice outside besides an incredible collage of fall colors. Hemphill Bald was an exceptionally special spot to practice yoga because of the unrivaled views, and because it is the setting for a remarkable conservation easement in western North Carolina. 
When you hike to the top of Little Hump Mountain in the Highlands of Roan, you see a completely unobstructed view of the surrounding mountains from its high elevation grassy bald. The Ridge and Valley Province lies to your west in Tennessee and the renowned peaks of Grandfather Mountain, Table Rock, and Linville Gorge rise to the east in North Carolina. Depending on the season, you could have bluets at your feet and flame azaleas in your line of vision as you look out across the mountains. When you visit this special place, you understand why conservationists have made this area a priority for protection. 
In the 1990’s, 67-year-old Maggie Valley resident Tom Alexander realized that he would have to do something to be able to hand down his beloved land, 1,000 mostly undeveloped acres adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, intact to his children. The land had been in his family for 60 years, but development in Haywood County had greatly increased over the past few decades and the value of his land was doubling in value about every three to four years.
