The Weekend in Black and White: Happy Halloween

The sign is partially obstructed but I thought it odd to have a display of pumpkins when all of the signs were advertising North Carolina apples. I didn't see any apples at all.



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SkyWatch Friday: clouds and color

I almost forgot about sky watch today.



I took the shot above this afternoon when I stopped at the pharmacy on my way home.



The rest of the shots were taken last week.



As usual it's harder to pick one when I rush.



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Nature Notes and Our World Tuesday: more NC mountain shots

There was a large pasture with elk that I photographed before walking on the Oconaluftee River Trail.

There were signs that said not to go into the pasture and that it was dangerous to approach elk, especially during calving seasons.

In spite of the signs someone aggravated the elk to the point of one charging.

A police or ranger with flashing lights came onto the pasture and got between the tourists and the elk.

The elk went in the other direction and everything calmed down.

I photographed the whole sequence of events but have so many shots for my combined nature notes and our world post that I'll skip the police with the strobe lights getting between the elk and tourists.

Many shots are from the car and I particularly like the ones on the back country dirt road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There was a big difference between fall color from higher and lower altitudes.

I can't think of the name of the next plant I spotted in the forest but I like it.

I also love furry moss.

I have gotten used to only posting one or two shots for most of my photographic themes but since I returned from vacation my posts are longer and longer.

I found it hard to narrow down the photographs I liked the most.

The conditions were so good for photography.

A lot of our fall trips to the mountains have at least some rainy weather.

This year it only rained a little bit one night that we were there.

There was such a great mix of beautiful skies.

I think I posted some similar shots for sky watch but not the same shots.

The only time we saw very many people was at Clingman's Dome but we were early enough to miss the heaviest crowds.

We timed our trip so our hikes would be on week days when there were less people.

Also the back country dirt roads we used part of the time were almost completely empty with a few exceptions.

I took the next shot in the back yard of the motel we stayed at.

I like the bridge in the next shot.

I love waterfalls of all sizes and shapes.

We saw most of the waterfalls on a Sunday afternoon walk a week ago.

I like the colors in the water below.

One last shot and I'll stop.

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Today's Flowers: Work and Vacation

I took the first shot on a work lunch break walk the week before I went on a vacation.



I took the rest of the shots from the road on the way to and back from a trip to the southern end of the NC mountain range.



I live in the central part of NC and we saw a lot of highway flowers.



I didn't see any wildflowers during our hikes.



I know the shot above isn't of flowers but it is as colorful as when trees have spring flowers.



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The Weekend in Black and White: Mountain Farm Museum

We walked past the Mountain Farm Museum on our way to the Oconaluftee River Trail.



I think I like the shot equally in black and white and color.



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SkyWatch Friday: Great Smoky Mountains National Park - North Carolina side

I couldn't have ordered better weather for a vacation of driving and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.



There were interesting clouds and blue skies.



Lots of different types of light to color the mountains.



Next we have the sky and Bill patiently waiting for me.



I looked through a zillion shots rather quickly to try to pick out ones specifically for the sky.



I included the next shot because I love fog and most mornings we had fog which cleared after I had my fill of fog shots.



The town in the shot above is Bryson City, NC which was the closest town to where we were staying.



I liked the mix of fall foliage as well as evergreens.



A carpet of leaves in the woods is one of my favorite things both for the sound and look.

 

I also love contours in the mountains when clouds form their own shapes along the range.



The next shot was when we drove on a back country dirt road through part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.



The best part about the dirt roads was that we were almost the only people using them.



It was worth it even though we were bouncing up and down pretty hard part of the time.



I love the mix of colors this time of the year with the higher altitudes changing and dropping their leaves.



There is still a fair amount of green at the lower altitudes.



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