Old highway US 70 went over the pass going west from Old Fort, NC to Ridgecrest, down into the Swannanoa Valley through Black Mountain, Swannanoa and then Asheville. It was completely absorbed by the newer Interstate 40 over much of the pass (built in the 1960s.) The I-40 pass has 3 lanes going downhill, and 4 going uphill with one for trucks to go very slow.
The section shown above still remains, going east from Ridgecrest where autos aren't allowed any more, but bicycles and hikers often go to the Point Lookout where they can see across to Old Fort to the east. I walked down there one evening after dark with some friends...so I don't know if there are any remains of the restaurant (which was on Point Lookout I'm told).
The train track still runs in this area, around many switchbacks and tunnels. I blogged about the building of the railroad through this pass
HERE. The Swannanoa Valley History Museum had a good display about it. (I don't think that museum has been allowed to open yet from pandemic concerns.)
The Geyser (seen as the tall white column in this photo) still remains, as well as a small park, and the train tracks which now only carry freight. The hotel (seen behind and to the right of the geyser is gone. There is still a gravel road that comes west from where that leg of Old 70 ends in Old Fort.
Once you're in Black Mountain, again going west, there are several legs of Old 70 remaining. One of these comes off of the current US 70 on the west side of town. Old 70 is at the bottom of the hill where I live. Parallel and one block further south is new US 70. Old 70 is two lane, while newer 70 is 4 lanes, and has more businesses on it. Old 70 dead ends in Swannanoa, less than 4 miles from Black Mountain. And newer 70 goes all the way to Asheville, becoming Tunnel Road. (It probably continues, but I've never tried to find where it goes through the city.)
But Old 70 was the only highway for many years going west between Old Fort and Asheville. All the tourists who came from the east of North Carolina had to climb that mountain pass. They were then driving under the Blue Ridge Parkway when it opened in the 40s. It still has an entrance onto US 70 in the Swannanoa area.
The familiar Parkway stone bridge over US 70.
The Black Mountain Inn is a B&B which served first as a stage coach stop on the original road which became US 70...and it overlooks the 2 parallel highways, as well as Interstate 40 about a quarter mile further south, just the other side of the railroad tracks. The Inn is about 4-5 blocks from where I live.
This delicious market bike display reminded me of our
Sepia Saturday prompt for this week.
Today's quote:
Between where you are now and where you’d like to be there’s a sort of barrier, or a chasm, and sometimes it’s a good idea to imagine that you’re already at the other side of that chasm, so that you can start on the unknown side.
