Fall's Muted Tones

Muted tones
quiet on the eye
grays mossy greens white black and brown
red standing out like a fair jewel
in nature's fall crown...
all a prelude
to a snow white
winter
drama.
:)

Hitting the Trail Soon...

My mind is ahead
on a family vacation!
The first photo is my family
hitting the wagon trail
during the week of Thanksgiving.
We will be heading further north
to visit family
and leaving the High Country
(only temporarily...)
I am so 'in love' with the mountains here
that my heart sinks inside when I look back
and see the big mountain peaks fading slowly away
on the way out and down and down (and down some more) then,
we all too soon find ourselves in the foothills.
This wee blog
will 'reopen' upon my return
though; you can
rest assured
of that
dear
readers
:)

The Road Ahead

Top: A road that was never developed lies
across from our house. It goes up and UP
...great trekking with the dogs!
There are no street lights on it so
it makes for a dark woods
(we have just one street light near us
and it is off more than it is on.)
This is a photo of the first light 'snow;'
called The Road Ahead. Bottom:
This photo doesn't show the
BIG picture, but up the trail
there was an entire mountain
side of ferns curled up 'asleep'
in the frost, slowly awakened by
the touch of the first sunlight
rays through the forest.
:)
Enjoy.

Wee Furries

Wee furries creeping here and there,
dancing through the night.
Wee furries
with brown coats of hair,
winter winds are their delight.
Wee furries after apples, red
traipsing through the corn.
Wee furries
with their hooves alight
on a crispy winter morn.

The Toothpick tree

In the Clouds...

At 4200 feet
this morning,
the clouds were rolling in fast, heavy and windswept.
Across from the community
I was standing in to take the photo,
was another community of homes nestled
into the opposite mountain.
The clouds here sweep in and cover homes, trees and tops,
and then move slowly away
creating their own unique unveiling effect.
It's different every time.
I will never tire of this.
There has been a light dusting of snow today
above 4000. Once again, however, as I study the photos
I feel a sense of letdown, as the huge vastness
I behold here daily cannot be captured to send.
Imagine.....
a full circle of a panoramic
clouds and blue~all about you.
:)

RainyRed

Rainy red
sleepyhead
(should have stayed in bed.)

Mountain Stream

Mountain stream magic,
glistening it slides
down rocky chasms
it trickles-
it hides.
Fall
holds
her arms out
offering her garment
with flare
leaves of yellow
orange
and red...
pepper her hair.
Fall's affection
is cooling,
fickle she is...
before you know it
her hold on the river-
dismissed.
Winter's wrought iron hand
will push back the leaves
and in her winter garment white
she'll roll up her sleeves.
Winter is a ghoul
and her grasp is tight
she holds
water frozen
with all of her might.
But when the sun warmed ice water
tickles her toes
winter reluctantly
releases and goes.

:)

Flashbacks...

It's supposed to snow on Friday night here
(and on Saturday.)
I'm not sure~~how I feel about this.
Our last winter was the third harshest on record
here in North Carolina.
Doesn't that (alone) say it all??
Excuse me while I call my therapist.

Table Rock Views

Saturday and Sunday Road Trip in the Appalachians
Top: Greens and grays before the sunset;
taken near Blowing Rock at about 3600 feet.
Next Three Down: Views of a rocky outcropping called
Table Rock; a " 3,909-foot summit that appears to be
as flat as the tabletop its name implies. But in fact, it is slightly
tilted, and the surface, irregular rather than smooth,
is a melding of huge boulders. The sandy, dry soil produced
from quartzite erosion is not nutrient rich,
but the hardy plants that take root at the rock's top,
including Allegheny sand myrtle, mountain
laurel, blueberry, pine, and various sedges,
use it to brace themselves against the heavy
gusts of wind that are an everyday part of cliff-dwelling life."
(Sherpa Guides)
To arrive at Table Rock, one must traverse
7 miles up a steep, narrow gravel road from the
Blue Ridge Parkway. The last several miles
to the park consist of a paved, single lane
ultra steep road with turnouts and many switchbacks
to arrive at your destination. There is a one mile hike from the
park itself to near
the summit.
(Click photos to enlarge.)
:)

Your Guess

is as good as mine.
Bottom Photo: What do you think goes in and out of here?
This was a rather LARGE hole that was cave-like
inside along a gravel road deep in the Appalachians;
we did not 'have the guts' to go in and look.
:)
Next Three UP: Sunset series.
Taken from a very high vantage point that was a
real 'nail biter!' We even met a car that was going up
on this one lane precarious road that has 'the view' thus,
we had to stop and back up for them to pass! Ohhhh. Myyyy.
Top: Idyllic stream in the North Carolina woods
with sun light in the
background.
:)

October is Heaven

I took the liberty of zipping to the
Blue Ridge Parkway
to bring you some photographs
this morning
before 8:30A.M.
I saw deer and these gorgeous,
heady shots. The wind,
today was sustained at
blasts of up to 45 MPH.
My favorite: the wind sheering
off of the mountain top and
rolling the clouds up, just like carpets
and the top photo; the misty
'rolling hills'
at about 4300 feet
above sea level.
The Parkway,
where we are situated
consists of 469 miles of such
awe inspiring,
and protected natural beauty
and the best long views
that one can find.
I was glad to be
there
this morning!

Bald Mountain and a Story

Today (Wednesday) is a gray day!
It is blowing light to moderate rain
so that I dare not take out my camera.
Perhaps I will procure a gray shot later,
as the fog and the mist here masking
the mountains and drifting in and out
is amazingly fun and wonderful to study!
The mountains are always changing.
Here is a shot (however) of a rocky,
bald mountain peak through the trees
Saturday, last. Photos never really
do these things justice, as it is
a massive and a bold structure.
Click to enlarge (that may help get my
previous point across!) Honestly,
I am usually quite disappointed at
many of my photos, as they cannot
convey the size, mass and volume
of what 'goes on' here.
The Story (as previously promised...)
:)
...On Saturday,
I saw something that made me
scream out full volume! As I told
of previously, we took a car journey
deep into the Appalachians and off
the Blue Ridge Parkway on a gravel
road to procure the shots that started
the week here on "Whoa...at Home in the
High Country."
The Story: As we were standing near a one lane
bridge with a small waterfall~~photographing,
a convoy of 'bad boy' BIG 4X4 trucks....
(5 in total) came whipping up the gravel
road leaving a gray-white trail rising.
My husband urged me, "Honey, step
off the bridge, quickly!!" (as it was a
true one lane bridge in the boonies
without side rail and such.)
To my amazement, the convoy
never slowed down one iota!
But~~ that's not all, friends. On
the back of the middle truck, which had rails
and a large grated box with compartments
on it, laid draped ONE HUGE (very big;
startlingly BIG) hunter's catch; a very dead
(and I'm sorry here...)
BLACK BEAR.
He was massive in size...much larger than
I ever would have thought or dreamed that
a bear in the parkway could be. Honestly,
I'm no bear expert of any kind (obviously...)
but he looked to be the size of a grizzly.
He was the kind of bear that~~
if I did see this size creature anywhere
near me in the wild woods; I would be
very tempted to simply RUN off. I mean shag it.
He was so large that he scared me
(even in his most unfortunate condition...)
The trucks sped by, stealthily removing their
catch up and up the long and the winding gravel trail.
And they were scary too [I mean the people...
(...and who were they; were they poachers...red-neck
hunter-type people...were they normal people, I mean
???) with their blackened car windows up,
rifles and ammunition everywhere~~and the gravel flying...]
Needless to say, my husband and myself
decided to head up and OUT, at this point as
neither of us had a single clue that it was most likely
bear hunting season in the Blue Ridge.
So today, an ode to the Big Black Bear...
Alas, this one, will travel the Blue Ridge,
no more, no more.

Long Views Extraordinaire

Views Leaving Town
Bottom: Panoramic View of the
Appalachians; I 'hate' to
leave them. (Click to enlarge.)
Next Up: Blue skies and ridges.
Top: The view. This was taken
from a gravel road carved out
of the mountain side with a sheer
drop off. A lone tree is growing
up the side, making it looks as if
the tree is growing in the sky itself.
Have a great day my readers! :)
I will leave you with this:
"Seize the day, seize whatever
you can. Life slips away just
like hour-glass sand."

Below Beacon Heights

Welcome to another of our Saturday
morning car rides , friends. :)
Our selection for you, this time, was
a trip dropping down off the Blue Ridge
Parkway into the Appalachian Mountains
via a not-too-awfully-bad gravel road;
just a bit away from a wilderness area.
Bottom: A view on top of one the rocky
peaks of Grandfather Mountain. The
colors are primarily gray and orange
and evergreen-green against the deep
blue sky (Click all pics to enlarge for
your visit :)) Next up: Rock texture
amplified! This was just a very small
portion of a rock wall (the side of a
mountain opposite a great long view.)
I do *love* my rocks! How about you?
Next up: Awesome long view of some
mountain top (who knows?...not I)
with spiky little peaks that seems to
prick against the blue sky. Next Two:
A small waterfall deep within the forest
with the massive rock-boulders forming
a bed for the water above. Note the rather
large hole worn into the rock next to the
water. Second from top: Gorgeous long
view here. It was a clear day for these shots.
Fall presents itself in all of its glory! Top:
Massive white rocky outcropping deep in the
forest with tress growing seemingly out of
the rock itself on top. I also have a story to
tell about this journey that I will relay later.
:) :) :)