G R E A T B A L S A M S
LOCATIONS
The Great Balsams are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.
I am madly in love with these mountains. To be just a speck of a being wandering the same majestic places as the Cherokee and the specks before them is to be fully alive and aware of our temporary aliveness. I have thousands of images within these mountains, particularly the Shining Rock Wilderness Area. Exploring these trails is like coming home. They are varied and sometimes rugged, or muddy, or overgrown, or confusing, but always a thrill and always changing. A few places feel magical — my favorite is off-trail (shhh). I like to hike late in the day, so all I hear is the wind, the hidden creatures rustling, and my boots doing their thing. I also like the small risk that comes from weather that can become extreme in an instant. Mother Nature showing off. She leaves me in awe.
When I take my family or friends, I beam like a proud mama.
cover image: Art Loeb Trail
black and white set of diptych pairs:
– Sam Knob Meadow and Graveyard Fields Lower Falls
– Shining Rock Wilderness Loop and Black Balsam Knob
static black and white: Upper Falls Trail
color triptych: Graveyard Fields Loop Trail
spring-fall swipe: East Fork Overlook
video 1: Graveyard Fields Loop Trail
video 2: Blue Ridge Parkway
black and white diptych: Blue Ridge Parkway
black and white mosaic: various locations throughout the Great Balsams
black and white panorama: Tennent Mountain
color panorama: Shining Creek Trail
static color: Art Loeb Trail
color mosaic: Mountain to Sea Trial, Black Balsam Knob, Black Balsam Summit Trail, Art Loeb Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, Waterrock Knob
video 3: Art Loeb Trail
color diptychs:
– Cold Mountain foothills and Art Loeb Trail
– waterfall off of 215 and Cold Mountain foothills
– Blue Ridge Parkway and Cold Mountain foothills
final image: Flat Laurel Creek
Fun fact: The Great Balsams are more than a billion years old and were once among the world’s tallest. The mountaintops we see now are metamorphic rocks and they used to be the valleys — erosion wore away the taller limestone rock.