The Remnants Of a Long Winter

(By Lisa O'Donnell, Winston-Salem Journal) - Three months of snow and ice have left Blue Ridge Parkway workers scrambling to clean up the roadway, campgrounds and picnic areas by early spring.

Although warmer weather and rain are melting much of the snow, some sections remain covered under 7-foot snowdrifts, which make it difficult for parkway employees to clear trees and limbs.

"We have tons of limbs down, and we can't even reach them," said Rick Baker, the facility manager for a 112-mile stretch of the parkway in Virginia. Baker, who is based at Rocky Knob near Floyd, Va., has worked on the parkway for 14 years. "We haven't seen anything like this in a long time."