On the Beach at Sullivan's Island

I took a little break the last couple days to watch some football. The Longhorns won and the Horned Frogs won. The Cowboys didn't play, but they'd won their last game, so that's good enough.

Leaving the mountains behind, I headed for Charleston on Saturday to spend a few days with Tony and Donna and, as luck would have it, we were able to watch the Longhorns beat Iowa State and Clemson beat Boston College. Ellen and David came over for dinner and football so, by the end of the evening we had a house full of well fed, happy fans.

Ellen knew I had my cameras and that I was continually on the lookout for places to shoot, so she offered to take me out to the beach on Sullivan's Island near Fort Moultrie the following evening. The idea was to catch fishing boats coming back in at sunset, but we failed to check with the fishing fleet.

I'm not quite sure why we thought we'd have a lot of boat traffic. The concept was attractive, the arrival of the fishing fleet at sunset, but it never materialized. Ah, woe is me! I was going to have to make do, shooting a pretty girl and her dog on the beach at sunset.

At least the sun didn't stand me up this time, as it had Tuesday morning at Cade's Cove. In fact, the sunset was well worth the drive out to the island. I even managed to get a boat or two in at least some of the pictures.

Ellen is showing me, in the picture above, the crab shell which held so much interest for Murphy, her West Highland Terrier.

The sun was sinking fast, so our little photo shoot ended up taking about 25 minutes - total. As much as I enjoyed Ellen's (and Murphy's) company, it's probably a good thing it didn't take very long. The gnats and/or sand fleas were out in force.

So, as the sun sank in the Atlantic, we left all the critters except Murphy where we found them and headed home.

I had one more photographic chore to do during my Charleston visit. Having seen several pictures of the marsh from the back porch of Tony's house I thought I should take the time to get the shots necessary for an HDR image. The problem was that the trees and shrubs always seem to be in silhouette because the marsh and the dock were in full sunlight.

I was surprised, therefore, when I discovered an especially well lit scene when I created a panorama of the view. I didn't need to make it HDR after all.

Mount Mitchell and Linn Cove Viaduct

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I picked up a couple of soft drinks at the beginning of the day's drive. I started getting thirsty after leaving Craggy Gardens, then drove a while longer before I remembered the drinks in the plastic bag on the console. I pulled one out and started to open it on a straight stretch of road. . . thank heavens. I hadn't thought about it previously, but Hendersonville's elevation is about 2200 feet and I was approaching Mount Mitchell, at 6683 feet. You know where I'm going with this, right? I had no sooner broken the seal on the soda bottle when I was reminded that the air pressure differential was likely to cause difficulties. And it did, all over my lap. I got the cap dogged down in short order, but both hands were very sticky. It was bad enough that I returned to Craggy Gardens, where I could wash my hands in the restroom. There was no way I was going to touch my cameras without washing my hands.

But my time was my own, and no one was waiting for me. So, back to Mount Mitchell. This first picture was taken at the Mount Mitchell visitors center or ranger station (I'm not sure which) located at Stepps Gap, about halfway between the Parkway turn off and the Mount Mitchell Summit. I think I could be happy there, at least most of the year; you can't beat the view.

The picture above is looking east or southeast from the visitor center parking lot, and the one below was taken from there as well, but definitely looking southeast. You can probably see halfway to Charlotte from here.

This shot was taken at the upper parking lot on Mount Mitchell itself. The view's looking northwest towards Burnsville in Yancey County. I may have mentioned that I was told years ago that in Madison and Yancey counties they hang the fields from the clouds, and plow both sides. That sounds very efficient. I didn't think it necessary to hike to the summit for a shot from the observation deck.

The drive north continued to be perfect, outstanding weather, cool temperatures, and only a little traffic.

These two pictures (above and below) were taken at the Laurel Knob overlook, where I decided to have lunch. The vista above was the reason for the overlook, and it was a good choice. But when you turn around 180°, you see the cliff face ain't too shabby either.

I knew I was getting close when I started seeing more and more cars parked beside the road. Then I was on the viaduct before I knew it, and started wondering where I'd find a spot to get a picture of it. I needn't have worried. All those cars were parked way too close for anyone to get any decent shots of the viaduct. There were good views to the south, but no reason to park where they had. As close as I can figure, using Google maps after the fact, I shot the view looking south (above) and the view of the viaduct itself (below) from a small parking area about 2 miles beyond the viaduct. The somewhat threatening feature above the viaduct is called the Black Rock Cliffs. Up on the ridge above them are the Raven Rocks. The Viaduct, the Cliffs, and the Rocks are all on the southeast slope Grandfather Mountain.

After the Viaduct, I backtracked on the Parkway to near Spruce Pine, then took NC 226 down to US 70 through Old Fort and on to Black Mountain. I hadn't quite finished by visiting Thursday, so I dropped by to see Susan and Marshall for a while before heading back to the motel. It was a nice visit, even if I made Susan late for her meeting. I felt like I'd gotten some good pictures in the last few days, but I was ready to leave in the morning for Charleston and relax for a few days with Tony and Donna.

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.