Early Morning Drive to Craggy

It's Friday, my last day in the Asheville area. Today's agenda is, shall we say, open-ended. I'll top off my gas tank, get a light snack for breakfast and a soft drink or two for the morning's drive up the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I'll avoid the horrendous traffic on US 25 and get on the parkway at Bent Creek and head north. I'm not sure how far I'll go, certainly no farther than Blowing Rock. I'll get some shots at Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell for sure. I indulged in some wishful thinking for a while, supposing I might manage to make it to Linville Falls, but reality set in. . . it's a reasonably level hike as I remember it but, as short as it is, it's way too long pour moi. Anyway, as John Wayne would say, let's "slap some bacon on some biscuits and mount up. We're burnin' daylight."

The best thing about these road trips is that I'm forced (by my focus on photography) to assume a conventional schedule (i.e., in bed by midnight and up with the sun. It doesn't necessarily work that way for me at home).

These first three pictures were all taken between Asheville and Craggy Gardens. Mostly I'm just enjoying the solitude of early morning on the Parkway and taking advantage of the low sun and the even lower clouds. Before long the sun will be too high for most shots and the clouds will have burned away.

This is the first shot at Craggy Gardens. Coming north, you approach the Gardens around this blind curve. I parked in the first space, crossed the road and walked back towards the curve for the picture. The mountain drops off to the left and, when the clouds clear away, there'll be a view of the Burnett Reservoir, north of Black Mountain.

However, I'm more than happy to trade the view of the reservoir for the low clouds here. Who wouldn't? Sunrise has long been my favorite time of the day, at least as far back as my time in the Navy. I've seen the sun rise in Athens, Barcelona, Rome, Kingsville and Adak; I'll take sunrise in the mountains of Western Carolina any time.

This view of Craggy Pinnacle (5892') on the left, and Craggy Dome (> 6080') on the right were taken from the same spot as the previous photo; I just turned to my left about 120°. The Craggy Gardens visitor center is just out of the frame to the left. The picnic area is on the far side of Craggy Pinnacle. You might also note the tunnel through the shoulder of Craggy Pinnacle.

These last two shots were taken from the picnic area parking lot on the north side of Craggy Pinnacle. Dominating the upper view is Craggy Dome. It's hard to get to, crawling under the rhododendrons (or as they're referred to in the mountains, a "Laurel hell"), but there's a shallow cave (really just an overhang) up there in that fold that can protect you from the rain on a cold wet afternoon. . .

The angle here is a little slight, but the sun, the lens flare, and the glare off the wet parking lot improve the composition enough that I couldn't just ignore it. There are any number of ways to save the picture.

Well, it's still early enough that I couldn't head back to town yet, so in tomorrow's post you'll get a few more pictures of the Parkway north of Asheville. Enjoy.