mystery

Without mysteries, life would be very dull indeed. What would be left to strive for if everything were known?
--Charles de Lint (b.1951) author and musician

Laurel Run Park

There is so much natural beauty to discover in this region -- I know I'll never be able to see it all. Here's a new discovery outside of Church Hill, TN -- Laurel Run Park. It's an absolute gem. It has to be one of the most scenic hikes in East Tennessee -- especially at this time of year when Laurel Run is flowing strong and the woods are full of wildflowers ready to bloom. If you love spring wildflowers, look no further. It's not that there a few wildflowers scattered here or there -- they're everywhere. They're not quite blooming yet -- I'd say give them another week and you'll see an amazing variety of spring wildflowers out at Laurels Run.

There are also two waterfalls to visit there: Laurel Run Falls (10' -- right photo) and Kiner Creek Falls (30' - top photo). Both are within 1/4 mile of each other -- with many more beautiful cascades and smaller waterfalls along the way (it's about a mile hike one way). Kiner Creek is a small watershed, so the best time to visit these falls is after a heavy rainfall. But if it is flowing, it's magnificent - one of the few waterfalls in this area that you can easily walk behind. Click here, here and here for more information and descriptions of Laurel Run Falls. Click here and here for more on Kiner Creek Falls.

Directions: Take I-26 toward Kingsport, TN to Exit 1 (Stone Drive - 11W), head west on 11W 8.5 miles until you reach Church Hill, TN. Turn left on Goshen Valley Road (Rt. 2367) go 0.8 miles and turn left on River Road. Continue 2 miles and turn left on Laurel Run Park Road and continue 1.3 miles to the park. Once at the park, bear right and park at the amphitheater. The trail follows an old logging road across the bridge. You'll immediately come to a foot trail climbing up into the woods on your left, don't take this -- it's steep and badly marked. You're better off continuing to follow the old logging road. You'll immediately come to another bridge - if there's lots of water -- that's a good sign. The old road tends to be pretty muddy (old shoes recommended), but offers a beautiful view of the creek, which you'll eventually cross (without a bridge! Can be kinda tricky...), and then a little ways further and you'll come to the first waterfall, Laurel Run Falls.

On to Kiner Creek Falls...Continue on the main trail a little further and you'll come to point where the creeks fork. Straight ahead (the smaller stream) is Kiner Creek. If there's no water flowing (which they say is often the case in mid-summer), then I'd just turn back. Assuming there's some water flowing, at this point you have a choice to make -- Option 1...You can cross Kiner Creek to your right and then make an immediate left following the "trail" that goes along the creek for a 1/4 mile to the falls. At times it's a trail, but much of the way it's a bushwhack. Stay near the creek if you go this way - keep pushing and you'll eventually emerge at Kiner Creek Falls. The benefit of this option is that you'll see a couple of waterfalls on your way -- the downside is that it's very tough going, very thick brush in places. Option 2...Or you can take the trail to the left, it will climb for a short distance and then switchback to the right - continue on another 1/4 mile or so; But this is where it gets tricky, there's not really a good trail going down the very steep bank to the right. If you listen closely, you'll hear the falls and if you look, you should see where past adventurers have traveled/slid. This is the most direct route. Whichever way you go, you're in for an adventure. Good luck!

By the way...If you continue on the upper trail past the falls, you will eventually enter Bays Mountain Park!

the way of life

Have you ever noticed a tree standing naked against the sky,
How beautiful it is?
All its branches are outlined, and in its nakedness
There is a poem, there is a song.
Every leaf is gone and it is waiting for the spring.
When the spring comes, it again fills the tree with
The music of many leaves,
Which in due season fall and are blown away.
And this is the way of life.
--Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) author

A lone tree under a shroud of fog and mist on Unaka Mountain.

faith to let go

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.
--Emmanuel Teney

be it ever so humble

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.
--Maya Angelou (b.1928) American Poet

With its 175,000 square feet and 250 rooms, the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC remains America's largest private home. Geeeesh. It's gargantuan. One hundred of my houses could fit inside! :)

spring duet

Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? no. Just as one can never learn how to paint.
--Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish Artist

interwoven

When One tugs at a single thing in Nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
--John Muir (1838 - 1914)

A single vinca bloom among countless others at the Green Mile.

Capturing Time

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.
--Henry David Thoreau

A long exposure shot (10 seconds) of Lower Higgins Creek in Unicoi County, TN.

Pure Joy

Forsythia is pure joy. There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of sadness or even knowledge in forsythia. Pure, undiluted, untouched joy.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 - 2001) pioneering American aviator, author

I know this is probably tempting fate, but I went ahead and changed the banner from the winter scene to the one of the Blue Hole you see above. Hopefully spring will stick this year. :)

unbelievably happy

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.
--Osho (1931-1990) Indian mystic

Above: Bradford Pear Tree blossoms.

blurring the lines

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.
--Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975), English economic historian

Whodathunkit? But taking pictures in the mist or immediately after a rain is usually the perfect situation. The colors are saturated, and even though it may be foggy and overcast, the atmosphere just glows. And with this diffused lighting comes the possibility of beautiful, soft photographs. What I really wanted to try yesterday morning was a multi-exposed photo, but I discovered that the Nikon D90 only allows for three exposures to be combined -- not nearly enough for the soft, blurry look I was wanting. So I decided to work instead on using a vertical panning motion -- yes, they're streaky (I like to call them impressionistic), but they seem to match the drizzle I awoke to yesterday.

Nikon D90, 18-200mm lens at 24mm (color) and 22mm (b&w), f/9, 1/5 sec. ISO:125

To see another attempt at this type of shot, click here.

stormy billows

Talents are best nurtured in solitude; character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German writer

Kingsport Greenbelt

The Kingsport Greenbelt will be nine miles when completed (see map). There are two completed sections that are perfect for enjoying nature -- one east of the city and one west. The section east of the city is mostly a shaded, woodland walk (above) - The easiest places to park and begin your walk are at the Exchange Place, an old historic farm on Orebank Road -- or behind Petsmart on Eastman Road. The western section is mostly a river walk -- as it follows the South Fork of the Holston River. To enjoy this section stop at the numerous parks and pulloffs located along Netherland Inn Road.

Something inexplicable

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable.
--Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Yep, I had to look it up...concatenations: a series or chain of linked events. It's not enough that he was a genius at physics...I'm even baffled by his English. :) Now that I understand the quote, I have to say that I love it. I love that Einstein, with all his brilliance and his remarkable understanding of science and creation, still maintained a sense of awe and mystery.

spring thrill

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.
--Audra Foveo

Spring has sprung this week here in east Tennessee! Ain't it thrilling?! :)

crabbiness cure

The more we are separated from nature, the unhappier we get.
--Unknown

Another shot from Crabtree Falls in Yancey County, NC. I was looking for a new angle for the falls and thought this perspective shooting through the trees looked good. There was a practical reason as well for my climb, I needed to avoid the glaring sunlight that was coming from directly above the falls. Not necessarily the ideal conditions for shooting a waterfall, but I was happy to see some of the warm light on the trees. Here's a short and simple how-to guide to photographing waterfalls.

Persistence

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
--Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) 30th President of the United States

Above is beautiful Crabtree Falls found off of the Blue Ridge Parkway at Mile 339.5. Click here for more information and complete directions. Located in the vicinity of Mount Mitchell, this is my favorite of all the waterfalls in our region. If you venture out that way, you might want to make a day of it. The drive from Asheville to Crabtree Falls is beautiful and loaded with things to see and do. Here are some places I recommend...

Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor's Center - Located on the BRP in Asheville, this museum is a must see for those who love the parkway.
Folk Art Center - Also located in Asheville along the BRP, the Folk Art Center is part gallery, part store.
Craggy Gardens, BRP Mile #364.4 (This portion of the BRP is closed until May, 2009 - but it's definitely a destination to keep in mind!)
Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, BRP Mile #355 (Can only be accessed from the north because of a closure of the BRP south of the entrance to Mount Mitchell)
Roaring Fork Falls - Picturesque cascading waterfall.
Setrock Falls - After a period of rain, this waterfall is gorgeous.
Crabtree Falls - One of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Southeast US.

Welcome

Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.
--Og Mandino (1923-1996) American Essayist and Psychologist

in like a lion...

The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing and one thing only.
--Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970) American Naturalist and Writer

This was the view earlier this week of highway 261 leading into Mitchell County, NC at Carver's Gap on Roan Mountain. NC got much more snow than we did on the TN side of the mountains this past weekend -- up to 11 inches in places. According to the Watauga Democrat, it was one of the biggest one day snowfalls in the high country since 1998. Besides shutting everything down, the snow also caused numerous power outages. But it sure was purdy.

winter beauty

The mountains are calling and I must go.
--John Muir (1838 - 1914)

On one hand, it was absolutely exhilarating on Roan Mountain yesterday -- on the other, it was downright miserable. The bitter winds cut right through. Wish I had a ski mask! The deep snow drifts made our hike that much more of a challenge. But it was all worth it to see the Roan encased in winter beneath the beautiful blue skies.

spirit wash

Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.
--John Muir (1838-1914), Naturalist and Conservationist