New Road

There comes a time in the off-grid experience when you have to acknowledge that your impact on the surroundings in some ways might be detrimental.  The fact is that in today’s society we need transportation, and in a mountain community (for a family with small children) cycling and in some cases small cars are not practical.  Bus routes are non-existent.  Our means of getting here and there has had to take the form of a truck and a mini-van.  One reason for that is John’s work requires him to haul instruments and artwork long distances.  The other reason is our road is the creek.

Driving through the creek does a number on even the most rugged vehicle, not to mention the eco-systems of the stream.  There is plenty of waterlife in our creeks.  We constantly see minnows, frogs, turtles, and crawdads.  Pushing up the silt, and oil and gas from the vehicles can’t be good for the creek and the life in it.

With our landlord’s end of summer return to the creek came a new road.  The signs of its coming sat at the end of the holler for a few weeks.  We weren’t sure what to expect because moving large amounts of dirt isn’t in our scope.

If you take a look at my previous post on our road, the new part was made to avoid the creek in the fourth picture.

The area in the first picture is still an issue.  It is still an issue because we have an anomaly of a bridge.

As you can see, there is no road coming to or going from the bridge.  It has been sitting there since we moved here, being lonely and unused.  If you wanted to use the bridge, you would first need to drive your car over the cliff above.

Soon, there will be a road built to this bridge and there will be no more driving through the creek.  That is an exciting thought for the winter.  No driving back and forth to break up the ice. 🙂

Now, we have to walk a piece to the cabin from where we have to park.  I’ve seen two snakes on the walk during the day (copperhead and a garter), and fumbled in the blinding darkness of night.  It is a tricky walk on the new moon carrying children and bags.  I’m absolutely not complaining.  Every step on this property is beautiful and our landlord and friend is adamant about keeping it natural and serene.  Being here often makes me wish a piece of it could be ours to enjoy our whole life and pass on to our children.  Land is an important part of a mountain person’s existence.

This is the view from where we are parking, now.  We’re moving on up.  It’s a sentimental step, making us a little more accessible to the outside, but a little easier with our footprints.