British novelist Rose Macaulay once wrote that "there are, above and under the earth, far more ruined than unruined buildings." While the Toe River Valley has never been the height of population, there are plenty of ruined things both above and below the ground. I thought for the next serval days, we would talk about just a few of them.
A couple of years ago, I hiked out to Roaring Fork Falls in southern Yancey County. It was a beautiful, warm fall day and the falls themselves were beautiful. They are located off Hwy. 80 and I encourage you to visit them.
Along the way you come across a couple of steel-reinforced concrete structures. One guide book says that they were "once used to store explosives." Another sources states that "At one time, they had "Danger" and "Explosives" warning signs on them. Years ago, the forest service used these buildings to store the explosives used to build the roads through the mountains."
Hmm, probably true. But I also wonder, maybe it was connected to the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway? There are a lot of tunnels in the general area. Or, maybe one of the many mining operations in the area?
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