Malachy Tallack
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Outriders

In the summer of 2017, Malachy was one of ​five Scottish writers chosen by Edinburgh International Book Festival to undertake journeys across the Americas.
He travelled through the United States for three weeks, beginning in North Dakota, through Appalachia, and ending in Louisiana. For most of this time he was accompanied by the novelist Jennifer Haigh. The diary posts below were written during this journey. 
Picture

Day Sixteen  |  25th May 2017

26/5/2017

 

Asheville to Balsam, North Carolina.

Distance: 109 miles
Total: 3109
Total states: 12

A morning of wandering and writing (and laundry) was followed by an afternoon of slow, circuitous driving, high in the mountains west of Asheville.

I took what I thought was a minor detour to Rosman first of all, in order to cross (very briefly) the state line into South Carolina. Then back again. The map, however, was deceptive. The route I'd chosen proved to be perhaps the windiest road I have ever driven, up and then up and then up, to over 6,000 feet, the highest part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This time though I was rewarded with wonderful views, out over the Smoky Mountains, offering a hint of what I'd missed in yesterday's fog.

The scale of the forest, of the mountains, is quite astonishing. 

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  • Home
  • About
    • Biography
    • Interviews
  • Writing
    • Books >
      • Illuminated by Water
      • The Valley at the Centre of the World
      • The Un-Discovered Islands
      • Sixty Degrees North
    • Other writing
    • Outriders
    • Other publications
  • Music
  • Events
  • Contact