Summer is here! Chlorophyll-generation reactions abound in leaf and stem; the summer solstice is grand. In a countryside that seems forbidding during the winter months, warm weather changes the attitude of the land. Get out and explore!
Tag: Green
High Country Dunking
I wouldn’t say the water was all that inviting (could have been the day) but I thought it was hilarious that the hiking guide I learned about this trek through suggested that if you were in the mood you could go for a “highland dunking.”
Laurel Run
I remembered my tripod but forgot the quick release plate so I had to hand hold my shots. Still, pretty impressed without this shot of the falls turned out. Laurel Run park near Kingsport, TN is a real gem with some good, accessible hiking trails featuring some pretty scenery. Would hike again!
Forest Stroll
Spring time is one of my favorite times for a hike. The leaves are green but its not too buggy, not too hot, and not too hazy.
Appalachian Homestead
Hiking the trails at Laurel Run park takes you past a couple of old “homesites” up in the woods behind the park. There’s no arguing the location is pretty, and there’s a nice stream nearby. But the placement of the homes, their remoteness, begs the question how did these people get in and out, or was this area less densely forested once upon a time?
Watauga Lake
Watauga lake is a pretty spectacular man made lake which, judging by the view down the other side of Watauga Dam (the top of which makes up part of the Appalachia Trail) used to be a pretty spectacular river valley.
Snoop Boggy Bog
South side of campus to the Campanile
And here’s looking back up (on a different day and from a different direction). The Campanile also figured heavily into my morning (and afternoon) routines, being the signal that I was finally at work and also that I was ready to head home. It’s maybe the most recognizable thing about Berkeley.
Merry Christmas (Eve)!
A lot of the houses in North Berkeley look like they would make great dollhouses, or part of a great ersatz miniature town, if only you could shrink them down. We can always pretend, eh?
Appalachian Horizons
The views from the Roan highlands are really something else.
Appalachian Rocks
You don’t have to pass through these rocks on the Appalachian trail in the Grayson Highlands, but its a lot more fun if you do.
Trail Buddies
Another shot of the ponies in the Grayson Highlands in southwest Virgina. These ones came up shamelessly begging for food (which, as per the signs posted, we declined to provide). When we declined to feed them they ambled on their merry way.
Creek Crossing
Compared with some crossings in the area this bridge feels a little over-engineered. Not that I’m complaining about the fact that it has handrails on both sides.
The Rush
I love the way water crashes through rocks.
Roan Highlands
The Roan highlands are spectacular.
Decaseconds 