Tag: exploring

The Smokies- Back of Beyond

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“The dreamy, blue haze that ever hovers over the mountains softens all outlines, lends a mirage-like effect of great distance to objects that are but a few miles off while those farther removed grow more and more intangible, until finally the skyline blends with the sky itself.” Horace Kephart


It is becoming an annual tradition now, where Cathie and I head to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. In 2018, we went twice. I wrote about the first trip, from April, but didn’t get a chance to write about the Thanksgiving excursion. Having just come back from there now, I have decided to just write a little about the park, not necessarily what I have done there, but the experience of being there.

It’s one of the few places where you can be in a heavy, tourist area like Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, but a short drive later, you are off the grid. Twenty minutes out of these heavily populated areas, you have no cellular signal. And while it is the most heavily visited parks, outpacing all of the others by quite a substantial margin each year, you can find yourself away from others. As primarily a landscape and nature photographer, hopefully it’s not hard to understand why I’m drawn to this place. After all, the park owes its existence to photographers.

I had the chance to see the park in late fall, over Thanksgiving last year. There were a few days where there was a heavy frost in the valleys. The park still held tremendous beauty, even if a little stark, with winter about to set in.

Prior to November, my trips had been in spring, although they were after the wildflowers had bloomed. This time, we planned our trip to be closer to bloom. The forests and valleys were awakening, we had timed our trip well this time. The day I arrived was quite rainy, and the rain continued the first full day in the park last Monday. As a result, the streams, rivers and waterfalls were raging. This offered us a myriad of photo opportunities during the week, which we took full advantage of.

Mostly, this past week was about detaching from day-to-day life. I didn’t come back with a tremendous amount of photos. I tried to make the photos count, though. And I also wanted to just be in the moment. Hearing the streams running. Walking out onto the balcony of our cabin with a cup of coffee in the morning, with the only sounds being birds chirping and wind blowing in the trees. It was sublime. It was a fantastic week, as was the week we spent there in November. And while I might not be able to return to the Smokies this year, I will be back, to the back of beyond.

First Road Trip for 2018- Finale

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The day started with a drive on Newfound Gap Road, which traverses the highest parts of the park, and ends in North Carolina. Along the way is Clingman’s Dome, the highest peak in the park. The hike to the observation tower is not a long hike, but, the trail is very steep, it is ranked as one of the more strenuous hikes in the park. Knowing that, we all decided to stay by the parking lot, which still offers some fantastic views of the mountains. Among the cars parked were several Minis, they were either on their to or from a rally. One of the Minis caught my eye- I am a huge Jeremy Clarkson fan, and the owner of the car turned it into a Clarkson/Top Gear tribute. I had to get some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a picnic lunch on the way to North Carolina, and continued on to the old Mingus Mill, which is near the Oconluftee Visitor’s Center (the North Carolina side of the park).

After stopping at the center, we headed back, and stopped at a turnoff overlooking the Oconoluftee River. We got some long exposures of the rushing water, and then continued back toward the NW end of the park where we were staying. We made another stop at Tremont, and by the time we were done there, it was dinner time.

 

 

 

 

We drove into Gatlinburg and had dinner at Bones BBQ Joint, it was a great last meal of the trip. Afterward, we went to the Ole Smoky Distillery and had a moonshine tasting. I bought some to bring back, it was really good!

 

 

 

 

 

Thus ended our spring excursion to the Smokies. As always, a fantastic time, with great people to share the experience with. Cathie and I will be returning to the Smokies in November. Before then, other adventures await, it will be a great summer!

First Road Trip for 2018, Part 6

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Thursday, May 3- recovery day. We didn’t have a set wake up time due to the strenuous hike from the previous day. The simple act of walking, going up and down stairs, standing up and sitting down, all were very tough. My legs were not prepared for the work, but, I’m not one to just sit around either. We went to breakfast at a place Cathie had seen during one of her previous trips, the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant The food was incredible, we ate more than we should have, but, it was a great reward for the previous day’s efforts. Their apple fritters were delicious, and Cathie bought some of their mix to take home. We walked around the candy store and their general stores, before heading out for our next stop, back to Cades Cove. After stopping at their stores, we left the park and played a round of miniature golf. We drove back out to Townsend, to see if we could get some information on cabins or hotels for future trips.

We intentionally left the day open and didn’t push our bodies too far, although Cathie fared better than I did. Later in the afternoon, we went back to photograph some of the roadside streams in Greenbriar, and on better days, I would have walked down the somewhat steep slopes to get closer to the water. But, I knew my legs were not going to handle it well, and I could just envision me tumbling down, breaking either bones, or my camera gear, or both. So, I played it safe and stayed up where we parked. Still, I got some photos I was pleased with.

We went back to the cabin, had dinner and relaxed a bit. It was a very light day.

First Road Trip for 2018, Part 5

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Wednesday, May 2.

We had breakfast at the cabin, and prepared for what we knew was going to be the toughest day of the trip. There are two very strenuous distance hikes in the park, and we wanted to do at least one of them on this trip. We chose the Ramsey Cascade’s trail, because it seemed that it would be the easier of the two, on paper. The waterfalls at the end of the trail are the tallest in the park. The last photo doesn’t do them justice, they are about 60-70 feet tall.

We arrived around 9:15 am at the parking lot at the trail head. The trail is about 4 linear miles one way, and we knew from what we had read that it was uphill most of the way to the falls. While I had not really trained for this kind of hike, I was confident. After all, this is not one of the trails chosen by the Navy SEALs for BUDs training. So we set off with the idea that we would be back to the car by mid afternoon.

We got back to the car a little over 9 hours later.

There is about a 2,200 elevation change one way. I was carrying over 40 lbs of camera gear, with plantar fasciitis in my right foot, two herniated discs in my back, and a surgically repaired right knee. But, none of that stopped me. It just meant that the going was slow. And it was for all of us. We had to make numerous stops on the way up. And when I say it is uphill, it’s steep in several spots. And, the last 1/8 of a mile was basically climbing over and around huge boulders, there wasn’t really a “trail.”

 

We brought provisions for the hike. It was one bottle of water for each of us, and one granola bar. For the entire day. By the time I had gotten to the 3 mile mark (going up), my granola bar was gone. And I finished the water before I got to the waterfalls. So, there were no provisions at all for the return hike.

When we finally got to the falls, Cathie had already sat down on the big rock in front of the falls. I put my gear down, and lay down flat on the rock on my stomach. I didn’t kiss the rock, but it was the same idea.

Cathie christened this “the hike from hell.” I will not disagree. She and I also made a suicide pact on the way back down. It was brutal. My legs were hardly holding me up as we were heading back down the trail. I tripped over my own feet, over rocks, branches, tree roots, you name it. And you know what? I would do it again. Because with all this being said, the pay off was incredible. And even with all this, there were spots that were achingly beautiful along the way. They had put narrow log bridges across some sections of the stream. I paused at these just lose myself in the moment, the water rushing below, the wind in the trees, and no other ambient sounds. In those moments, I truly understand what John Muir meant when he said “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares drop away from you like the leaves of autumn.”

I used up everything I had that day on that hike. It took my legs several days to really recover from it. Walking was not easy, but even worse was the hill we had to walk up and down to get to and from our cabin. And the stairs in the cabin to and from my bedroom really, really sucked. But these were just muscle aches. My foot, back and knee held up fine.

It was a day we all will never forget.

 

First Road Trip for 2018, Part 4

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The adventure continued on Tuesday, May 1. We got up extremely early in order to catch sunrise from the location we had scouted on the Foothills Parkway. We arrived just as dawn was breaking. The valley below the overlook had a farm with some cows grazing, and due to the temperature, there was a mist hugging the valley floor. It was serene. As the sun cleared the mountains on the horizon, I was able to catch the sunburst over the valley (the featured photo). While the sky itself was not overly dramatic, it was still a great sunrise. We spent the better par of an hour there, then, headed back to cabin for breakfast.

At the start of the trip, I mentioned to Cathie that I really needed to get a haircut. I didn’t have the chance to do it before I left. My day job had been extremely hectic that week, and, Saturdays are my normal haircut day. But, we were in Kentucky on that past Saturday. Cathie thought this whole thing was strange, but, hair doesn’t cut itself. And, I’m all about supporting local businesses. After breakfast, I called the place I chose, and made my appointment, and Joe also took advantage and scheduled an appointment as well.

As our appointments were at 12:30, we decided to kill some time and played a round of miniature golf. On my trip to visit Cathie last August, we played a LOT of miniature golf. We also were battling some very harsh mid-day light, so, we had to find other ways to occupy ourselves. As much as sunny days are nice, and they are, for photography, they do not work well. After the first round of golf, we got lunch, then went for our haircuts. Cathie was still bemused by this whole thing, and got some photos of Joe and I as we were getting our haircuts.

Afterward, we played another round of golf, and the second course was much more fun than the first one. By the end of that round, we had gotten to later afternoon, the light was starting to improve, so we went to Roaring Fork Nature Motor Trail. There are some great hikes to waterfalls, but we didn’t have the time to do either one, so we drove the loop road until we got toward the end. There is an excellent roadside stream among some large rock formations, and the water was running strong. I navigated through the stream, trying not to hurt myself on the very slippery rocks, and set up for a couple of long exposures in the middle of the stream. Whatever it takes to get the shot!

We spent well over an hour and a half there, and the light was starting to fade. Since the light was no longer ideal, we did not stop at the old mill at the end of the motor trail. Instead, we headed back to the cabin, had dinner and relaxed a little. And we thought we were prepared for what awaited us the next day.

First Road Trip for 2018, Part 3

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Monday, April 30, was my 50th birthday. Spending my birthday with my two favorite people is what this was all about. We had breakfast at the cabin, and then ventured into the park. Whether it was too warm, or we arrived too late, the Cades Cove area was not blanketed in its usual morning fog. And there was not much going on around the loop road, so we ended up stopping only at the Cable Grist Mill. I had the chance to finally use the new Lee neutral density filters there, getting some long exposures of the turning water wheel. We then stopped at the souvenir shop, and since I needed a hat, I bought a Smokies trucker cap (two of them, I couldn’t decide on one or the other), plus a few other items. We had lunch, and then scouted the Foothills Parkway for sunrise locations. On the way back into Townsend, we stopped at a country store, where Cathie found a table that she fell in love with. The table was a bear holding up the glass table top. It was hand carved, really well done, but, was quite expensive.

These mid-day diversions became a necessity for most of the trip. Although the weather was spectacular, there were little to no clouds during that week. This makes more for some very harsh light, particularly from mid-morning to late afternoon. Whether you’re shooting in the visible light spectrum, or infrared, that harsh light from the sun directly overhead does not result in the best photographs.

Once we finished at the store, we headed back into the park, and went to one of my favorite roadside rivers, on the road to Cades Cove. We stopped there for close to an hour, and because there are tall hills on both sides of the road, the sun was blocked, giving us some more even light. I utilized the filters again, getting some long exposures of the raging waters (the featured image at the top of this post was taken there). When we finished, our original plan was to head back in the direction we came. But, traffic was backed up all the way to our spot, due to road resurfacing near Tremont. Knowing how far that road was, we decided to head back to Cades Cove and then take the Rich Mountain Road, and head back to Pigeon Forge that way for dinner. It turned out to be a happy detour. First, at Sparks Lane, there was a large group of horses grazing, and walking right up the fence to check out us crazy humans. I was able to get some photos after I was freed from Cathie’s car. For some reason, Cathie decided to park right next to the only road sign on Sparks Lane, blocking me so that I could not open the door. After about 10-15 minutes of her merrily photographing the horses for herself, she realized I had not gotten out of the car. That’s when I pointed out where she had parked. Thanks, Cathie, lol! Once I was able to start getting some photos, the first of a few weird occurrences happened with my workhorse Nikon D800. As I was rapidly firing, the viewfinder suddenly went dark, and the metering was not working. Even after turning the camera off and on, taking out the battery and putting it back in, it was only when I had changed lenses that it started working ok. I went back to the lens I was using, and it seemed to be working fine again. This happened a few other times on this trip. I’m still researching what the issue could be. 

We continued on to Rich Mountain Road, and on the drive up the hill, we came across a bear. It was the first one I had seen in the park in my two trips. I was on the wrong side of the car to get any kind of decent shot. At one point, I had gotten out to try to retrieve my camera from the trunk, but this got the bear’s attention. To be safe, and to not encourage her to approach closer, I got back in the car. Cathie got several photos, that was good enough for both of us. Finally, we headed out to get dinner. I chose Bennett’s Barbecue Pit for dinner, we ate there the last time. The food is excellent, as was the beer, and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly after a great first full day in the park.

First Road Trip for 2018 Continues

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Sunday morning, after getting breakfast at the hotel in Danville, KY, Joe and I set off for the Smokies. The drive isn’t a very long one, so rather than taking interstates, we jumped off and took some back roads south through Kentucky, until we joined up with I-75 just south of the border with Tennessee. The drive took us through part of the Daniel Boone National Forest, some beautiful country. Our meet up with Cathie was at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Smokies. When we got into Sevierville, and then into Pigeon Forge, what would have been a 20-30 minute drive into the park took nearly twice as long, traffic was very much like a weekday rush hour in Chicago.

We ended up having to park in the RV parking lot, and then walked over to the visitor center where Cathie was waiting outside on one of the benches. After the first of many purchases in and around the park for the rest of the week, and Joe joining the Great Smoky Mountains Association, we drove into Gatlinburg, got lunch, dropped off our rental in a public parking lot, and ventured back into the park to introduce Joe to it. We intended to head into Cades Cove, and stopped at a roadside bridge over one of the many rivers in the park. I took a few infrared photos from there, including the one below.

 

But, as it was early afternoon and a cloudless day, the light was very harsh, so we didn’t take a lot of photos. We decided to continue on to Cades Cove, and, ran into a traffic jam due to repaving. We found a space to turn around, and, realizing that we still had to go back into Pigeon Forge to check in to our cabin, we decided to leave and take care of that. We also needed to stock up on food and other items we would need for the week.

The cabin rental company’s office is right next to the Titanic museum, and I was hoping that wouldn’t be a metaphor for the rest of the week. We checked in, and headed to the cabin. It was quite an entertaining (and nerve-wracking drive) up some winding mountain roads to get to it. While the directions seemed complicated, it didn’t take us long to master them, as well as finding a shortcut that wasn’t mentioned by the cabin rental folks. We unloaded the vehicles, then headed back down to Pigeon Forge to get dinner, and then stock up. We got back to the cabin after dark, settled in, and made our plans for the next day.

First Road Trip for 2018, Part 1

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For my birthday at the end of April, I met up with my friend Cathie in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My friend Joe also joined us, as he had a birthday in November and we really did not have the chance to celebrate it. We both turned 50, and we wanted to do something special.

On the drive down to the Smokies on April 28, we stopped overnight in Danville, Kentucky. We were going to stay in Lexington, but, due to the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event, it was impossible to find a room. The reason for staying in that area is, Joe and I wanted to explore some of the bourbon trail. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a bourbon fanatic. We got the area in the afternoon, and there wasn’t a lot of time, but we were able to visit the Buffalo Trace distillery https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com and have a tasting. Buffalo Trace is one of my favorite bourbons, as is Blanton’s (which is also made on the premises). I tried their Eagle Rare bourbon, which is aged for a minimum of 10 years. It is absolutely incredible. I also picked up some of their Bourbon Cream, and some bourbon chocolates (yes, I love bourbon!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got dinner and then tried some Kirk & Sweeney 12 year old rum, which was quite good, not like any rum I had before. The next morning, as I was loading up our vehicle for the next stage of the adventure, I saw the sun rising behind Conrad, the horse outside of the entrance to the hotel. It was too good to pass up, even though all I had was my iPhone.

 

 

Sunday, April 29, was spent driving to meet Cathie at the Sugarlands Visitor Center in the park, and introducing Joe to the park (Cathie has been there three previous times, and I have been there one previous time). I will write more about Sunday in the next part. Stay tuned, as they say!

Looking Back At The Past Few Winters

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As we are in late February, the winter season usually starts winding down around Chicago. That doesn’t mean winter is done with us, but, usually, the worst is behind us by now.

This has given me the chance to look back at the images I have taken this winter, as well as from the past few. I have not shared most of these before.

I love winter photography, I always have. Using Adobe Spark, I created a “highlight reel.” If I didn’t have to be concerned about copyright issues, the soundtrack to this would be Pink Floyd’s “Terminal Frost.” But, I used one of the soundtracks available for free.

If March gets interesting, I will be out capturing it.

The link below will take you the video, thank you for looking and your continued support!

https://spark.adobe.com/video/dmqaOcFCbsJjP