filled with glory

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory. 
--Betty Smith (1896-1972) American author.

Above: My friend Tim takes in this view of the Nolichucky River from the Appalachian Trail for the first time. For a description of the hike and directions, click here.

The Nolichucky is a tributary of the French Broad River and flows 115 miles from western North Carolina through east Tennessee. The name, Nolichucky, is a bit unclear. Some say the name derived from a Cherokee village that once stood near today's Jonesborough, TN the name of which meant "spruce pine place." Local lore says it derives from an Indian word meaning "Rushing Water(s)", "Dangerous Water(s)", or "Black Swirling Water." As you can probably guess, today it is a popular whitewater rafting destination. The railroad bridge you see in the photo was built way back in 1907.

go forward

It is for us to pray not for tasks equal to our powers, but for powers equal to our tasks, to go forward with a great desire forever beating at the door of our hearts as we travel toward our distant goal. 
--Helen Keller (1880-1968) American Author who was blind and deaf.

Above: A tree stretches out over the Watauga River at Sycamore Shoals State Park in Elizabethton, TN.

ember glow

As Autumn ignites, 

The leaves burn with ember glow. 

They fall like ashes. 

-Jack Taggert- 

Pictured above is Beaverdam Creek on a rainy autumn day. The creek flows past what has been called "the world's shortest tunnel," Backbone Rock. This tunnel was drilled through a narrow spur ridge in 1901 to connect a railroad between Shady Valley, TN and Damascus, VA.

The area is great to explore (preferably on a non-rainy day). There's a nearby waterfall, a trail leading to an overlook above the tunnel, as well as picnic and camping facilities.

For directions, click here.
See also the Cherokee National Forest webpage.

the stretched soul

It is the stretched soul that makes music, and souls are stretched by the pull of opposites: opposite bents, tastes, yearnings, loyalties. Where there is no polarity, where energies flow smoothly in one direction, there will be much doing but no music.
--Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)  American Writer.

Above: Elk River, Avery County, NC

silver singing river

There's beauty in the silver singing river, 
There's beauty in the sunrise in the sky, 
But none of these and nothing else can match the beauty, 
That I remember in my true love's eyes.
--Bob Dylan (b.1941) American folksinger

2014 Appalachian Treks Calendar

Just in time for Christmas...The 2014 Appalachian Treks Calendar. This twelve-month calendar features a different landscape each month of a beautiful scene from the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. The calendar is spiral bound, measures approximately 11"x17" when opened, and is printed on high-quality card stock.

Give the gift of Appy Treks this Christmas!  :) 

On the cover...the Doe River passes under a footbridge outside of Hampton, TN. Visit the link above to preview the other images from the calendar!  It's a perfect gift for those who love Appalachia and the great outdoors.  Order now and receive 10% off.

An American Classic

Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away you rolling river.
Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you,
Away, I'm bound away, 'cross the wide Missouri.
--American Folk Song, "Oh Shenandoah" 

This shot above of the Nolichucky River in Greene County, TN reminded me of the song and video below. The song is done A-Capella -- all the sounds you'll hear were performed by Peter Hollens. The origin of the song is unknown. It's said to date to at least the early 1800s - but was not published until the 1880s. It has been recorded and performed by such diverse and legendary singers as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. More lyrics here. From the Library of Congress website:

"As unclear as is the song’s origin, so is the definitive interpretation of its text. Some believe that the song refers to the river of the same name. Others suggest that it is of Native American origin, for it tells the tale of Sally, the daughter of the Indian Chief Shenandoah, who is courted for seven years by a white Missouri river trader. Regardless of these textual discrepancies, 'Shenandoah' remains an American classic."

changes

Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different. 
--C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) British Scholar and Novelist.

Above: Clark's Creek on a cold, dreary day.

waves

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. 
--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American author and philosopher. 

Above: Detail of Elk River at sunset.

elk river

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
--Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BC) Greek philosopher

mysterious place

Let mystery have its place in you; do not be always turning up your whole soil with the ploughshare of self-examination, but leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring... 
--Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss writer. 

Click here to read out the mysterious (and haunting) legend of the Holston River near the Rotherwood Mansion in Kingsport, TN.

beginnings

However far the stream flows, it never forgets its source.
--Nigerian Proverb

Devil's Looking Glass

To err is human, to repent divine, to persist devilish.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US statesman, author, inventor. 

The Devil's Looking Glass is a rock formation rising hundreds of feet above the Nolichucky River outside of Erwin, TN. This sheer cliff has been the subject of fascination, mystery and dread for centuries. It's said the Yuchi and Cherokee Indians avoided the area out of fear of the image in the rock cliff. Local folklore tells of cries of agony heard coming from the rocks, images of Satan seen on moonlit nights, and tales of a lover who leaped from the top of the cliff upon learning her love had died in battle -- she is said to now haunt this area.  More information on the hauntings associated with this cliff here.

awakening

Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.
--Lewis Grizzard (1946-1994) American writer and humorist 

Above: Clark's Creek in Unicoi County, TN

in the shadow

Love beauty; it is the shadow of God on the universe.
--Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) Chilean poet 

The Holston River in Kingsport, TN, in the shadow of Bays Mountain.

solitude

I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.

--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher--

Above: Doe River detail

the nature of things

I am interested in the nature of things. The nature of something is quite different from the way it looks.
--Duane Michals (b.1932) American photographer.

make the best of it

I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, as I have thought of it, as I remember all the things from childhood on through the years, good ones, and unpleasant ones, that is how they come out and that is how we have to take them. I look back on my life like a good day's work, it was done and I am satisfied with it. I was happy and contented, I knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.
--Grandma Moses (1860-1961) American folk artist

The Doe River in late summer (near Roan Mountain, TN)

a beautiful truth

It is a beautiful truth that all men contain something of the artist in them. And perhaps it is the case that the greatest artists live and die, the world and themselves alike ignorant what they possess. Who would not mourn that an ample palace, of surpassingly graceful architecture, fill’d with luxuries, and embellish’d with fine pictures and sculpture, should stand cold and still and vacant, and never be known or enjoy’d by its owner? Would such a fact as this cause your sadness? Then be sad. For there is a palace, to which the courts of the most sumptuous kings are but a frivolous patch, and, though it is always waiting for them, not one of its owners ever enters there with any genuine sense of its grandeur and glory.
--Walt Whitman (1819-1892) American poet

enchantment

The only words that ever satisfied me as describing Nature are the terms used in fairy books, charm, spell, enchantment. They express the arbitrariness of the fact and its mystery.
--G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) English writer

This is the scene directly above the main Red Fork Falls. Immediately after taking this photo, while I was fiddling around with the camera settings, a red fox casually walked across the top of the small falls above, and disappeared into the woods. Crazy that my camera would be focused in his direction and yet I'd miss such a perfect opportunity! But it was a magical moment nonetheless.

Details: Nikon D90, 18-200mm lens at 20mm, f/22 for 2 sec, ISO 160.