Photo: Laurel Knob routes. Photo credit: Harrison Shull photo, courtesy of Carolina Climbers’ Coalition A hunka hunka burnin’ rock: Laurel Knob in Jackson County, with its 1200-foot faces of sheer granite, is an Eastern climbing treasure without par, taking a backseat in magnitude only to some Out West destinations. According to local lore, the earliest … Read more
Salad bar: An elk grazes along the road in Cataloochee, unconcerned about passing cars. photo by Jean Gard We stop on the Cataloochee Road and stare at two elk grazing, so close that I can read the tag on one (No. 68). Jean, on the passenger side, is busy snapping pictures as fast as she … Read more
Happy Goth • Who they are: Chelsea Brooks and Anita Altschul • What they’re wearing: On Chelsea, a green-and-black bustier worn over a lavender tank and wide-leg pants she made from fabric purchased at Foam & Fabric. “I want them to be huge Goth pants, only really happy,” Chelsea explains. On Anita, Austrian crystal necklace … Read more
A few weeks ago, this greedy carnivore developer found himself breaking vegetarian pizza with members of the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods. This unusual gathering resulted from CAN’s request to meet with some members of the Council of Independent Business Owners. Due to all the problems generated by the community activism and the UDO, it costs … Read more
Some people say life is a series of coincidences. Others say there are no coincidences at all. But any way you look at it, our lives are intricately connected by shared experiences — including the act of reading. Back in February, Rob Neufeld, the enthusiastic director of Together We Read, invited me to join him … Read more
Quit picking on the circus I recently read the article “The Elephant in the Room” [May 31 Xpress] and was very disturbed by it. I am sick of hearing about people going overboard about circuses. Yes, there should definitely be ethical treatment of animals, but there should also be entertainment. Just because people are “not … Read more
How cool is that? The cove forest that surrounds Bat Cave is verdant and thick with rare plants like Carey’s saxifrage and broadleaf coreopsis. Natural vents wheeze air from the bowels of the earth, cool and moist. Deep underground, little-known creatures — spiders, crevice salamanders, millipedes, amphipods — skulk about, only too happy to be … Read more
Meals on wheels: Adam Ripley at Aston Park, where he has relocated his free food program. photo by Rebecca Bowe Montreat resident Adam Ripley never figured that giving away hot meals would land him in hot water. But in early May, the Asheville Parks and Recreation Department gave him the boot, telling him his Pritchard … Read more
Most of us start gardening because we like plants or fall in love with flowers. So we go to a nursery and buy whatever’s blooming that will fit into our vehicles and budgets. Once home, we try to fit our purchases into the garden, and the next week when the weather is fine, we repeat … Read more
These are hard times for unexplained phenomena. Daily, one by one, the old myths are being teased apart by the icy hand of science. Crop circles: yawn; the Loch Ness Monster: likely a pile of fog-wreathed hooey; spontaneous human combustion: yesterday’s news. Even if you have proof that Great Aunt Lila was consumed by mysterious … Read more
