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Gaps and Hollows
Forming the backbone of America ’ s 13 original colonies , the Appalachians are an ancient mountain range formed nearly 500 million years ago . Shaped ever since by the gradual process of erosion , they ’ re riddled with narrow roads that climb over gaps ( passes or saddles ) and wind their way through hollows ( river valleys ). Some are hidden under a dark green canopies of trees , others have their edge lines covered in creeping kudzu . Many are hidden gems , little known byways that you stumble upon when you ’ re on your way to someplace else . Such as this one — Bearwallow Road — which connects the locally famous Diamondback ( North Carolina Route 226A ) near Little Switzerland to Bearwallow Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway . Photo by Tom Riles