Roan Massif Grassy Balds

I'm about an inch shorter than I was last Wednesday. I hiked my legs to nubs over the last few days in an attempt to put everything beautiful around Roan Highlands before the lens... and loved every minute of it! The problem was that everything was beautiful, but that's a nice problem to have. It's easy to understand why so many photographers make this pilgrimage each year for the peak of the rhododendron season.

There's nothing quite like the splendor anywhere along the trail from Carver's Gap to Grassy Ridge... but it's not just about the view. The terrain can be challenging at times, which gives you a sense of accomplishment. There's also a combination of flora enough to keep a botanist busy for a lifetime... Roan’s ecosystem, comprised of 27 rare natural communities, nearly 800 plant species, 6 federally listed species (spreading avens, Roan Mountain bluet, Blue Ridge goldenrod, rock gnome lichen, Carolina northern flying squirrel and spruce fir moss spider), and over 80 southern Appalachian endemic or regionally rare species, is one of the richest repositories of temperate zone biodiversity on earth. And then, there's the folks you meet along the trail.

It's a pleasure being around those who are seeing this place for the first time... I'm excited for the joy and wonder that they experience here... there's a beauty in that, too. I met some older women, some likely in their late 70s, who had managed quite well the hike onto Grassy Ridge Bald last Saturday morning. They stopped along the trail to inquire about a plant... they were excited that it turned out to be a rare Gray's lily that had yet to bloom (see one here from friend Keith Clontz that looks suspiciously like the 3-bud flower we saw, taken the same day www.flickr.com/photos/55226137@N05/7358413098/in/photostream). They didn't seem concerned for what others thought, or what others were doing... with hand-hewn walking sticks in hand, they had managed the somewhat arduous trek up, joyful just to be there and living life, not as "old women", but as people with a dignified spirit... beautiful! "Paradoxically, striving for possessions and money, the things we think will bring us pleasure and happiness, actually strips the meaning from our lives....What we truly long for isn't boundless riches. What we desire is a sense of significance and value - of human dignity." - Chuck Colson

Here, the clouds contend with the magnificence of the Catawba rhododendron as a low sun punctuates the end of the day last Thursday evening on Jane Bald... but some beauty in this world is just way too big for the camera.

By the way, I made a new friend at Roan... she's new to Flickr. Drop by here www.flickr.com/photos/49592464@N03/ and give Sheila a big welcome... and see some more images from the highlands!

The Catawba rhododendron didn’t do well in terms of showy flowers this year and put out more growth in the foliage, likely due to an extended and awfully cold winter this year… the flame azalea, however, apparently didn’t get that message. Here at Engine Gap in the Roan Highlands, flame azalea of several types and colors were blooming like gangbusters.

I got a late start heading up here on this Friday with friend Paul McKenna, intending a sunset shot from Jane Bald, but that thunderstorm some 20 miles away held my interest until the sun had set well behind Roan Mountain. Much of the background, apart from the very top of high Grassy Ridge Bald to the far left, is in shade, which makes that storm stand out. It’s reaching up as thunderstorms are prone to do and is probably 20,000-25,000 feet up at the top at this moment and still going up.

It was pitch dark when we got back to the car at Carver’s Gap… as we exited the last of the switchbacks down through the balsam woods near the parking lot, we encountered a couple of fathers leading some reluctant boys up into the spooky dark woods… they were apparently going to camp up there. I came within a breath of saying “Look out for the flying monkeys!” Two things kept me from doing it: first, I’m not sure they would have understood the reference (do you?). Second, the dads had their hands full just trying to keep the group putting one foot in front of the other… and you’ve got to appreciate a dad going through such hoops to open the world of wonder to their kids. The last thing they needed was somebody scaring the bejeebers out of them... even so, there must be flying monkeys in there somewhere.

At a quarter of 10:00 pm, we were back to Newland and laughing, as they roll the sidewalks up in that area at that time, even at McDonald’s. We found sandwiches at the local Ingle’s Grocery, so we didn’t go to bed hungry that night at the Parkview Lodge in Linville Falls.

This image is a composite of five vertical images stitched seamlessly together using Photoshop CC 2018. The original is greatly detailed with an output size of 60”x24”.

The blue hour fades into the Golden Hour along the Appalachian Trail on top of Round Bald in the Roan Highlands.

The back side of Round Bald from Carver's Gap is known for this stand of Rhododendron calendulaceum, also known as Flame Azalea (though if you look closely, you can also see some purple Catawba rhododendron). I've always wanted to get a grand panorama of this area with a dramatic sky... I believe this fits the criteria. The Roan Highlands straddle the North Carolina/Tennessee border. The Appalachian Trail winds through Roan Mountain, Round and Jane Balds, and on into Grassy Ridge, often right on the state line, at altitudes between 5000 to 6000 feet ... this is looking off into the North Carolina side. At these altitudes, the land and sky here interact in ways like no other place on Earth. It's part of what draws so many photographers these highlands... the scenes are so different from day-to-day. I had my friend of many years, Terry Risher, in tow through here last week, hiking in fog... well, cloud, actually. I was carrying my tripod with the camera mounted when we crossed paths with a couple of fellas working their way back... "Great day for pictures", one of them said, "if you like taking pictures of the inside of a cloud!" Good thing he was a camper and not a photographer... some of the more interesting shots I have are of things looming through the fog! Have you ever loomed in the fog? Uh, oh... I've got that word stuck in my head, and I'll be thinking about it all day.

Far below here is the Roan Valley, where Flickr friend Tom roanmountain and his wife Ellie live. They visited with us at the cabin in Newland last Saturday, where we had a wonderful meal and time of fellowship... Tom and Ellie are evidently hard-working, salt-of-the-earth kind of folks who are easy to like from the moment you meet them. It's always good to make new friends, especially those who are so intimate with an area so beautiful as this.

Terry and I are in the throes of creating a web-searchable database of North Carolina wildflowers, grasses, and weeds... the objective is to create a site where folks can find the information they need, starting with simple descriptions with photos then working toward more complex understanding, which is exactly backwards of sites from Duke University and North Carolina State... if you don't know exactly what you're searching for to begin with, a mere list of scientific names is quite useless. Some of each of those categories may intersect at times, for instance, one man's wildflower may be another man's weed, so this will no doubt get quite interesting (from a number of perspectives). As Terry walked these balds, I noticed his head was on a swivel, so to speak... he was quite unprepared for even just the variety of grasses there... it can all be quite overwhelming. Thankfully, I got him back down to the parking area at Carver's Gap before his head exploded... he's got his work cut out for him. He's recently retired as an EPA database manager, though... he needs something to keep him busy. I enjoyed having him along last week... I love watching the faces of those who see this place for the first time!

This panorama is from 9 vertical images from the camera mounted to a level tripod, allowing me to swing through the scenery. The final output, created in CS6, is 90"x30"... this one's set for an aluminum print.

One of my favorite things about shooting in the Roan Highlands, are the layers of the mountains, there are options for 360 degrees from the top of...

Balsams make really nice, and fragrant, Christmas trees... string together some of those berries from the mountain ash to get a head start on decorations!

I may be preaching to the choir here as I point out that Joyce and I are always quite busy this time of year. I’ll be scrambling around today for last minute ingredients for meals I’m preparing for a Christmas gathering of international students from Duke University with International Students, Inc tomorrow evening at our church’s fellowship hall. The meal is potluck-style, with many members of our church pitching in, as we may be feeding 150+ people. We must be concerned about dietary restrictions of some the students, Muslims for instance, so I’m making a huge pot of gluten-free rotini pasta with Bolognese sauce and southern-style chicken and dumplings… comfort food. Others will be making vegan dishes and desserts. I will be there early to coordinate the kitchen and the food… Joyce will be there to help with finishing touches on holiday decorations.... after she returns from Boydton, Virginia, where she's also setting up decorations at the historic Boyd Tavern along with the mayor's wife... she knows how to hobnob.

At this gathering last year, I sat at a table with a few first-year engineering students from China. Engineering is something I understand, so we had a pretty good conversation going on. That conversation led to issues of regionalism and colloquialism that we found quite funny. "Regionalism" eventually reached across the world when they asked me what I thought of them. I'm sitting there with science-minded young adults brilliant enough to attend one of the most elite schools in the world from a country that insists communism is their only God... and yet, I was able to explain God to them and why we celebrate His birth at Christmas. In doing so, I explained how God tells me that I can't say that I love Him without also loving them... that's much of the theme of the Book of James. They sat silent for a bit after that, though I could see something was whirling around in their heads. As I gathered my stuff to leave that evening, they were lined up at the door to thank me and hug me for talking to them... and one of them now attends church with us. Time spent with God never returns void.

After church this Sunday, we're both headed back to Boydton, a little over an hour away on the far side of Kerr Lake, to participate in the open house Christmas activities there. I will be taking photos of kids with Santa Claus... which should up my ante on the naughty or nice quotient. Time will tell.