Saturday, September 28, 2013

Pry Me From the Summit!

One thing about me when I'm wandering in the wilderness:

Get me to an overlook or an exceptionally nice area to see the vistas...and you practically have to pry me loose with a crowbar.

Once I was up on the summit of Hawksbill, I didn't want to head down. There's something extremely depressing about leaving a mountaintop for me. It's like the beginning of the end. Okay, I know I have to head back to the bottom of the mountain and then home...so I try to dither as long as I possibly can before facing the music.

So it was on the top of Hawksbill. I stayed up there taking hundreds of photos, but at last I had to face facts and begin the trek back to the road and the waiting truck.

About 1800 feet below...the creator of the Gorge--the Linville River.

I don't know what plant produces these bright red berries, but they were pretty so I tried to get a good macro shot of them. I failed. Color is nice, though.

Looking up from one of my photography spots back toward the wind-swept summit of Hawksbill Mountain.






One last look down into the bottom of the Gorge.

Not sure what shrub this is. But this specimen looks very old.

The old, eroded trail leading down from the top.

There really is nothing quite like hiking through a rhododendron tunnel.

2 comments:

Vicki said...

A mountain is good place to dither. :)

As wonderful as photos are, they don't capture the real magic.

James Robert Smith said...

No, photographs and video do not tell the whole story. You have to be there.