296 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
asters, goldenrod, dozens of well-loved flower forms 
in luxuriance abound, as well as some you do not 
know, — instead of with a cloak of flaming azaleas, 
or wearing a crown of rose-bay, as would have been 
the case had your first visit been earlier In the season. 
From the top of Pisgah you get a wide view, and a 
very beautiful one, though perhaps the best Is that 
plunge of the senses down among the rhododendrons, 
kalmias, and tree-tops that cover all the near slopes 
with a lovely surface of green, in which deep shadows 
lurk, and over which the light plays so beautifully. 
To the west from Pisgah, across the cul-de-sac in 
which lie the Forks of the Pigeon and the high form 
of Cold Mountain, rise the Balsam Mountains, and 
from Garden Creek, that lies about halfway between 
Pisgah and the Balsams, a road leads through Davis 
Gap and on to Waynesvllle at the very foot of the 
Balsam Mountains. As one follows this winding 
road, beautiful views of Pisgah come and go, as also 
of Cold Mountain, Sam Knob, Lickstone Bald, and 
other familiar forms. 
Then, upon crossing the Davis Gap, the glorious 
high Balsams rise up to view. The road passes a 
picturesque old mill with its tall wheel, where one 
stops to drink from the cold spring, and soon after 
reaches Waynesvllle, which has long been a noted 
summer resort because of its elevation of over twen- 
ty-six hundred feet, its beautiful outlooks, and the 
fact that it lies on the railroad. 
Waynesvllle is not on the Pigeon River, but in the 
fertile and charming valley of Richland Creek which 
