Pine Ridge Falls

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. 
-- Albert Einstein

Above: Pine Ridge Falls. To the left is a photo of the forest service road through Clark's Creek. And below, a photo of Blue on the trail to the falls. Click here for directions and a full description of the hike. Occasionally I've seen this waterfall referred to as Longarm Branch Falls.

imagination

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
--Albert Einstein  

Here are some recent photos from Rocky Fork State Park. The transition to a state park is making good progress on this huge tract of land in southern Unicoi County. It looks like the parking area is nearing completion (but not open yet) and trails are now named and marked with signs. Hiking the Flint Trail, I came across a lovely meadow (left) after crossing the interesting footbridge you see at the top. The bridge was made from a tree that had fallen across the creek.

growth

 

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.
--Henry Miller (1891-1980) American Author and Writer. 

Above: Poplar tree leaves budding in spring.

refresh

You can't change who you are, but you can change what you have in your head, you can refresh what you're thinking about, you can put some fresh air in your brain. 
--Ernesto Bertarelli (b.1965) Swiss businessman and philanthropist.

Signs warning of aggressive bear activity in the Clark's Creek area of Unicoi County didn't deter us from seeing Sill Branch Falls today. We did see plenty of other hikers -- but fortunately no bears. The signs specifically warned against overnight camping, grilling out and picnicking. However, the area is  still open for day hikers. Camping in the area has been banned since late May and isn't expected to be allowed again until fall.  Click here for more information.

For directions to Sill Branch Falls, click here.

time-tested

“I know you have been critically looking at the mores and customs of the past and questioning their value. Every generation does that. But don't discard the time-tested values upon which civilization has been built just because they are old.” --Ronald Reagan

This old railroad bridge spans the Nolichucky River in Unicoi County, TN just south of Erwin. It replaced the original wood bridge in 1908. Here's the view from the Appalachian Trail high above.

be curious

Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.  
--Arnold Edinborough

a moment of clarity

Keep your head clear. It doesn’t matter how bright the path is if your head is always cloudy. 
--Unknown. 

A shot of the the Appalachian Trail on Round Bald in the Roan Highlands. It was such a misty, foggy morning, but occasionally it would all clear away and bring a moment of clarity to the mountain. :)

be bold

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. 
--Paul Freund (1908-1992) American jurist and law professor.

Congratulations to all those graduating from Milligan College this weekend!

Above: Seeger Chapel

warm and cool

It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.
--Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr. (1859-1930) Scottish writer.

Above: I like the complementary colors of blue and orange in this scene found along the Linear Trail in Erwin, TN at sunset.

imagination

The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist and philosopher

recollection

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. 
--George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish author.  

Above: A photo taken last month at the Beauty Spot. It was underexposed and grainy, so I had to push the editing much more than I usually do. But it's fun to see how an image can be salvaged in the editing process.  Missing all of this color now that we've reached the blahs of November.

overlook

The essence of genius is to know what to overlook. 
--William James (1842-1910) American Philosopher and Psychologist. 

blessed are the dreamers

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.
--Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens (1904-1996) Belgian Archbishop

towering

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. 
--Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) 16th US President. 

From a vantage point overlooking downtown Johnson City, I zoomed in on this communications tower, making it appear absolutely enormous against the far distant lights. I don't remember it looking quite this dramatic in real life. :)

wisdom

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
--Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826) US President. 

The library at Emmanuel Christian Seminary.

out of the mist

The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. 
--Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) American Journalist. 

great expectations

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. 
--James Allen (1864-1912) English author and poet. 

vision

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.
--Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Russian born American Writer and Philosopher

Above: Cascade Trail, Buffalo Mountain, Johnson City, TN. Click here for a map of the many trails on Buffalo Mountain.

discoveries

From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings. 
--Helen Hayes (1900-1993) American stage and film Actress. 

Above: The Johnson City Public Library, completed in 1999.

new experiences

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

The upper falls of the Blue Hole, outside of Elizabethton, TN.