never enough nature

We need the tonic of wildness -- to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature. 

--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American author and philosopher.

Here are two hazy views from Unaka Mountain both looking southeast toward Mt. Mitchell in NC.  The one above was taken from Beauty Spot, the one to the left from Unaka Mountain Overlook.  Spring is coming to the mountains. :)

They've done a great deal of work on the 12 mile road that goes up and over Unaka, digging trenches and installing culverts. I still recommend a higher clearance vehicle. They've also opened up some views at Beauty Spot looking out to the east.  Click here for directions and descriptions of all there is to see and do on Unaka.