Winter Star

In 2004, after a number of years spent away from backpacking and hiking I began to venture into the wilderness again. One of the fist places I went to explore was the Black Mountains in western North Carolina. These are the highest mountains in the eastern USA.

Tomorrow I'll write more about these first experiences in getting back into returning to the forests after years of not being able to enjoy them.

For now, I'll leave you with a stitched photo that I took with my first digital camera on one of my initial return to the wild places I have always loved. This is an excellent mountain in many ways. It's one of the rare eastern peaks that exceeds 6,000 feet in elevation, and it's relatively isolated from roads and crowds. As a bonus, unlike so many eastern peaks, it has a wonderfully poetic name: Winter Star.

Winter Star, along the Black Mountain Crest Trail.

2004, the first time I climbed Winter Star.