stephiestewart – Page 2 – A World Explored

The Great Smokey Mountains, Asheville, New River Gorge, and the Red River Gorge

The Great Smokey Mountains – Asheville – New River Gorge – Red River Gorge

Mountains and gorges, with time winding in between them – a photographic journey.

Photography often requires travel, and because of the other obligations I have currently, there really was not a lot of time to spend in each one, as it was a long roadtrip, though visiting each place felt like a long time while there.

Photographs, starting from Indiana, with its farmland and barns, at a place in between Bedford and Brownstown on the 50:

The Great Smokey Mountains

The one thing these four places have in common is that they are beautiful nature areas, with two of them formed by the streams in the gorges, and the other two by the mountains nearby them.

The Great Smokey Mountains were blue and misted this time, and filled with dappled light and the beginnings of fall color, with its reds and yellows. Any place there is worth seeing along the road, although the top two are Newfound Gap and Clingman’s Dome. If those are the only two places one can visit, that is enough, with the Appalachian Trail running through both spots.

The view from nearby the visitor’s center, heading up towards Newfound Gap.

Heading up to Newfound Gap from Gatlinburg.

The view from above the mountains, near Newfound Gap. Usually, there are ravens that fly away from the road across the valley. There were a few there this time again this year.

The same view of the mountains, though from a different place at the pullout.

The view of the Smokey Mountains from Newfound Gap.

A gnarled old tree trunk on the Appalachian Trail near Newfound Gap.

Flowering plants along the Appalachian Trail.

Two trees along the Appalachian Trail, with a view from in between one trunk to the forest.

The very peaceful, old woods of the Appalachians near Newfound Gap.

Along the Appalachian Trail near Newfound Gap.

The wooden stairs leading into the Appalachian Trail from Newfound Gap.

The Smokey Mountains from Clingman’s Dome.

The alpine mountain flowers on the short but steep 0.5 mile one way trail up to Clingman’s Dome. It is a paved walking trail with benches on the side for rests looking out at the view.

Autumn foliage along the way to Clingman’s Dome.

Moss, or lichen, on an old pine tree by Clingmans’ Dome.

A view of the mountains. This was on the way to Clingman’s Dome midway up the trail.

The mountains from the viewpoint atop Clingman’s Dome.

The lovely view of the blue smokey mountains in the mist of evening light atop Clingman’s Dome.

A different view from atop Clingman’s Dome.

Last view of the Great Smokey Mountains on the way back to Gatlinburg, and on. Until next time!

Asheville, North Carolina

Known for its art, there are many studios and galleries in the small mountain town of Asheville, which is at the end of one of the Blue Ridge Parkway roads coming from The Great Smokey Mountains.

There was an art gallery that was not open that I would like to visit one day, American Folk Gallery, next to the food co-op in Asheville. Every art gallery looked interesting, however, in Asheville.

The Biltmore is a place many visit while in Asheville, however, I went to the grounds but did not tour around this time – though if one is willing to spend some time and money to visit the grounds and house of the Biltmore, it is like visiting a castle or other residence of the sort in Europe.

The gallery I visited in Asheville is called The Grovewood Gallery. This happened by chance and it is in a nice little village setting near a hotel with a vast green grounds and is quite pleasant. It has many handworked art pieces, showcasing paintings and furniture.

Though everyone has different taste, here are some of the ones I liked.

Fayetteville – The New River Gorge, West Virginia

West Virginia – Wild and Wonderful.

There is a slightly nostalgic feel in the ancient mountains here. It is a former coal-mining town, and for anyone who has read and likes The Hunger Games by Susan Collins, it is as close to being in Katniss Everdeen’s hometown as one could imagine. The town is not a wealthy one, yet it is filled with an atmosphere of adventure and excitement in an outdoor spirit, and there is an attitude of ruggedness running through it given all the mountain adventures, along with rafting and cycling. It is small, yet full of things to do if one likes the outdoors. The New River Gorge has only recently become a National Park on December 27, 2020. There is mist in the mornings often and it can seem like a different country, espeically along by the waterside of Gauley Bridge, in between the mountain pass roads.

If there is only time to do a few things in Fayetteville, the top ones are:

Walk down the stairs of the New River Gorge Bridge Overlook

Hike along the Endless Wall Trail

Visit Fayetteville

The Red River Gorge, Slade, Kentucky

Slade – what is unique to Kentucky is this area is the Red River Gorge, though Slade is itself a rather poor district in Kentucky that does not have a lot of wealth, yet many people come here from around the world for its world-class rated sport and traditional rock climbing, and other outdoor activities. The Natural Rock Bridge is in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in one scene in winter. There are many hiking trails that wind through the forests, some of which are short and relatively easy, like the Whistling Arch Trail, the trail (if one takes the Sky Lift) along the Natural Rock Bridge, and others.

Some things are worth doing, and the hike to the top of the Natural Rock Bridge, a 2 mile loop, led to some nice views. It’s not always easy to do things like this, but then again, having done climbing, running, and tennis, along with other sports, and photography, training comes with discipline and sheer will some days when the motivation is lacking at the start. The views were worth it, and it felt like a completion of the journey, which was a farewell of sorts to a way of life in the summer and previous years, as the seasons are changing.

There was a horse I met along the Tarr Ridge Road who came up to me and was very friendly – so much so, that I wished we could have gone on a ride together, though I had to continue on the way. Maybe I will see the same horse once again, though fleeting moments are all we have sometimes with one another on the journey.

Gallery:

One way to make roadtrips better is to take the roads less travelled. While the main highways are faster, the smaller ones are often more scenic, and only twenty to thirty minutes longer to the destination. The road less travelled is the one sometimes best chosen. As always, all opinions are my own.

Heading back into Indiana, near Oolitic.

A weekend in the southwest – Arizona

Saguaros only grow in a very small part of Arizona, yet they are recognized as an emblem all across the world of the desert landscape of the southwest, although they only grow in a small area near Tucson, Arizona.

Weekends are long days, yet not very long. It depends how one lives them. These two days felt very long, yet were not longer than any other. The desert landscape, with its horizons, can make the hours seem different, as the sunsets sweep in pinks and blues across the mountains and fade slowly into darkness, and the sunrises stretch long across the morning at dawn.

I watched them from the desert, looking at the stars at night – so many stars – there, as usual, as always, and yet often not visible. How much a metaphor of many things in life, there, yet not visible, yet so important nonetheless, and often insignificant and overrun in the mundane nature of the days passing? Life moves in a flowing stream of time as they say, on and on.

Being present, and living well, is perhaps the only thing we truly can achieve in life. The feeling of oneness with ourselves and everything else.

In those moments, everything is complete, and maybe it is easier in the quietness of the desert landscape to achieve, where everything is more muted, more subtle, yet teeming with poison, dangers, and life, unseen, amongst the rocks and sand.

Life, moving unseen, on and on, and yet we acknowledge its passing.

Many sights in Arizona are worth visiting, and there is not enough time to see them all in a day or two, really, to appreciate them. However, here are some worth seeing, if only for a short time:

Saguaro National Park, with its cacti and often mists in the mornings.

Patagonia – I have not been there, yet I have heard many good things from local recommendations.

Mica Mountain – there is a road that winds all the way up to the top that has nice overlooks of the Tucson city.

The college area around 4th Street in Tucson where many interesting shops and a food co-op reside. There is a lot of well-done street art on the walls of buildings that make this place vibrant, with quirky shops and interesting stores, like Witch, which had many Turkish lamps hanging in the windows and the promise of many interesting objects inside. There was not enough time to visit it this time, however, this is an area that is highly recommended.

Almost any of the nature areas nearby stretching from Phoenix to Los Cruces are worth seeing. You will find mountains with rugged features, like the Chiracahuas in the Chiracahua National Monument, the white sands in White Sands National Park, and desert landscapes stretching for miles.

However, travel wisely and safely, and use caution at night. There are lots of rattlesnakes around during the October – March months, and it is advised to be careful if walking around at night.

There are many places here that I like. I’ll keep my favorite places quiet to let others find their own- although some of these might be recognized still.

As always, all opinions are my own.

A weekend in the Rocky Mountain Forest

The Rocky Mountains are majestic, rugged, and vast. There are plenty of forests nearby these mountains, with varying features. The beautiful white birch trees and alpine flowers, and the rocky features along the mountain line, made a very scenic sight.

A free image of Grand Lake, Colorado – until I have my own photographs edited!

Edited photographs – a moose seen in the Rockies.

Nearby, the Steamboat Hot Springs have a very nice wilderness atmosphere with a natural hot springs in different rocky pools and is a place to go to relax and take the cares of the day away.

As always, all opinions are my own. Stay wild and free, and live well!

Deer

Deer portraits taken on August 7, 2024

Deer portraits taken on August 9, 2024

The Forest of the Deam

Charles Deam Wilderness and Lake Monroe

Mist over the forest one day in June, 2023.

Revisiting Some of Utah’s Most Beautiful Places

Once more around the national parks in Utah

An older image of Zion’s Overlook, in 2020

Visiting the national parks in Utah, of which there are many well known ones, was slightly different in spring, as the weather changed, and some of the snow remained on the mountains, making it a very pretty sight in many places, while the weather warmed, and yet the spring blossoms did not quite emerge to cover the ground with blooms. Unlike the forests of the Midwest, the landscape in Utah is more Martian, many say, and I would agree, with its reddish hues and desert landscapes, and the mountains with sparse ground cover that do not really ever seem to change with the season, in many places.

Skiing at Brianhead Resort was a very scenic sight, with beautiful vistas on many sides of the mountains, with the red hues in the distance against the white snow.

The best places to go in Utah that are National Parks are arguably the Big Five:

Bryce Canyon

Zion

The Canyonlands

Arches

Capitol Reef

There are also places of immense beauty that are lesser known, such as Snow Canyon, near St. George, and many places around St. George, like the Pioneer Park boulders and the trails in the Red Cliffs National Conversation Area. There are also pretty places around Moab that aren’t amongst the Big Five that are worth exploring, though I will leave those up for the visitor to discover themselves.

Not to be missed is Salt Lake City, with The Crater nearby (in Park City), and the white sands to the left of the city (an hour and a half away).

On the way back to the Midwest, Vail is a nice place to visit with its Swiss styling, even if one is not skiing and merely taking in the sights. Visit the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop for gifts if anyone likes chocolates.

There was just enough time to get back in time to see the Solar Eclipse with friends and family.

Vail, covered in snow, from one of the roads.

As always, all opinions are my own.

The Old Town in Alexandria, Washington, D.C.

Some things leave behind memories that are greater than others, though small moments matter, no matter how insignificant they may seem.

The drive through the mountains of West Virginia and its sweeping mountains is one that takes one back to olden times.

After a few weeks in a pleasant small town (though it is growing at a rapid rate with apartment complexes) with friends and family after solar ecplise and a season of tennis in the summer ahead, the mountains of West Virginia once again beckoned.

However, I did not wind up stopping in them, as a friend was playing a piano concert in the German Embassy in Washington D.C., and it is not often that these things happen. So, I went and watched, and made a “film” of it with the equipment I had.

While there, which was a short weekend, the old town of Alexandria and the wharf had some nice views to walk along, and another lovely woodland walk starting from the Old Anglers Bridge into the woods and back along the Potomac River – until next time. As always, all opinions are my own.

St. George, Utah

Words don’t really describe well the changing colors of the southern Utah landscape. For a month in winter, I hiked different trails, went skiing and climbing, and admired the beautiful landscapes again. It’s like living on Mars, many say, and time passes differently there, it seems like, with the long hours of reddish hues and golden grasses mixed with growing small towns into cities. Most of the time I spent in St. George, which is very close to Zion National Park.

For those who enjoy scenic views, camping in the high country near Yant Flats is very nice.

Of the prettiest trails, a walk through an easy trail in Snow Canyon was by far the favorite, which led to three lava caves and the gentle rock waves, and the balloons rising from the rocks in the morning over the town of St. George were a pretty sight during the weekend festivals they held.

As always, all opinions are my own. May your life be blessed with goodness this season.

Some photographs of Utah, with one of a trail in Red Rocks in Las Vegas.

Traveling Across the USA

When I look back at the photographs, the last eight months was extremely full of new sights and landscapes, though while I lived it, it didn’t feel very different. I spent weeks living a different lifestyle, traveling to Tuscon, Arizona, and to several different small towns and landmarks nearby, before the year turned toward the end. A snowdrift in Denver, during the cold spell, caused me to stay for a few nights in a very small former coal mining town, Leadville, with extremely beautiful snow capped mountains in the distance, in high altitudes, and an appreciation for various kinds of lifestyles, while I was there.

I returned to Indiana yet again in the spring, where the leaves were changing, the blooms were opening up and sprouting into green hues everywhere, and the placid lake in the mornings as the sun drifted over it changed morning and evening, reminding me once again why I liked being in Indiana so much, anyway.

The months passed slowly, and another trip out west happened. Weeks slowly became the past, as it kept moving on, and suddenly the blooms were gone and full leaves had been grown. I wandered around the New River Gorge, taking in the sights and climbing, and visited the Red River Gorge, on the way back.

Another trip took me to Asheville, where finally, I visited the Biltmore Estate and drove along part of the Blue Ridge Parkway, admiring the views.

In Yellowwood, someone who was traveling across the country said, “you might look to the future and aspire to it, but one day, you’ll look back and realize that the last ten years is what you did.” We often look to the future and admire our plans without fully realizing that where we are and what we’re doing is what we knit into our shroud, as the saying goes.

Spain and England

Involving two more countries and a marathon:

For two months, I was in Spain and England. I was actually in Scotland during a very momentous time in history, when the Queen of England died, and watched part of the precession gathering in Edinburgh, while it was being set up.

Spain was hotter than I expected, though I enjoyed wandering the cool streets in the Murcia region, in the south of Spain, and visiting the landmarks and cathedrals in Cartagena and spending quiet days in the small coastal town of Aguilas, swimming in the waters.

England, with its beautiful green landscapes in the countryside, and its varied regions, was no less interesting. I preferred Cornwall the most this time, as — perhaps it was the weather — there was a very peaceful feeling in the land while I was there.

I also visited Dublin, for a few days, and spent some nice evenings watching cricket on the lawns, seeing the interiors of the cathedrals and watching street music along the narrow streets, and walking by the River Liffey in the mornings and evenings. One day, it would be nice to spend a month exploring Ireland’s countryside, and visit places like Graystones, which was highly recommended by others.

There were train strikes in Oxford while I was there, and also the London Marathon, which I completed a couple days afterwards, following the course one day on my own.