The mountains of western North Carolina. May 29, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
We got home from North Carolina last night. We had a very relaxing couple of days with our friends Judy and Charlie. They have a very beautiful cabin in the mountains south of Franklin. The picture above is a view of the mountains from their deck.
The Smoky Mountains on Newfound Gap Road. May 10, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
The picture above was taken at an overlook on Newfound Gap Road in the Smokies. Newfound Gap Road (US 441) is one of the most popular drives in the Smokies and runs between Cherokee, North Carolina and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. There are several overlooks along the road, this is an unnamed overlook on the Gatlinburg side of the mountains.
The most popular Smokies views along Newfound Gap Road are autumn scenes and sunrise/sunset views. This picture features neither, but still gives an indication of the beauty of “America’s Most Popular Park”.
Lower Bridal Veil Falls, DuPont State Forest, North Carolina. May 10, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
The picture above was taken in the DuPont State Forest near Brevard, North Carolina. Betsy and I had been there in 2006 and had seen three of the four major waterfalls. But we didn’t get to the fourth waterfall, Bridal Veil, because the hike was just too long for us to make in the time we had available.
When we were planning our trip to the beach this year I was checking waterfall web pages to find waterfalls we could visit either going to or coming home from the beach and I happened to access the web site of the Friends of DuPont Forest. They were offering a shuttle bus tour of three of the waterfalls, including Bridal Veil, on the weekend we were returning from the beach. It was too good of an opportunity to see another waterfall, so we our plans accordingly.
The picture above shows the lower part of Bridal Veil Falls, which gets its name from the way the water spreads out over the rocks.
On the day we were there it was possible to walk up some of the dry rocks to the upper free fall. The upper falls is the location used in the movie “Last of the Mohicans” when the main characters walked behind the waterfall to hide from the Indians. Since I didn’t have my hiking boots with me I didn’t try to go behind the upper falls, but I did get close enough to take the picture below.
Upper Bridal Veil Falls, DuPont State Forest, North Carolina. May 10, 2009.
Lake Nickajack, Tennessee. April 16, 2009.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and post your own pictures, click HERE.
Betsy and I like to travel on back roads whenever possible — we see much more of America that way. But our recent trip to Texas involved such long distances that we asked our GPS to take us by the quickest route, even though we knew that would mean mostly going on the interstate highways.
We’ve stopped at some fairly nice rest areas on the interstate, although I would not call most of them scenic. But on this trip we got a real surprise — a rest area that is actually scenic.
The picture above was taken at the rest area on I-24 near Chattanooga. The rest area is on an island in Lake Nickajack on the Tennessee River. The lake is formed by Nickajack Dam, a hydroelectric dam near Jasper Tennessee. Nickajack Dam is one of nine dams on the Tennessee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The name Nickajack comes from a Cherokee village which once stood just upstream from the dam site.
Sunrise on Mt. Nebo, Arkansas. December 4, 2008.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and post your own pictures, click HERE.
The picture above was taken on Mt. Nebo in Arkansas in December of last year. It seems appropriate on this Easter morning to post a picture of a sunrise — that moment when the darkness of the world is about to be overcome by the light of heaven.
That’s exactly what is celebrated today — the Son rising; the Light of Heaven overcoming Darkness.
Our church service this morning will begin with these words:
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
The view from White Oak Mountain, North Carolina. May, 2008.
Betsy and I go to the beach each year and we try to arrange the trip to and from the beach in such a way that we can visit waterfalls on the way.
Last year on the way back home we visited Shunkawauken Falls near Columbus, North Carolina. Shunkawauken Falls is high up on White Oak Mountain and we found a pullout near the waterfall.
The waterfall was beautiful and we enjoyed our visit. I may show the waterfall at a later time, but it is behind me as I took this picture of the beautiful western North Carolina countryside. You can make out some of the buildings in the town of Columbus on the left side of this picture.
Scenic Sunday is a weekly meme in which bloggers share their views of our beautiful world. To see more scenes, or to post your own, click HERE.
Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. May, 2001.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shows beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts or to join and post your own, click HERE.
One of our favorite parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is Cades Cove. Touring the Cove is like stepping back in time. Not only does Cades Cove contain a lot of history, but it also contains some remarkable scenery.
The picture above was taken in the Spring.
The view from 'our' cabin on Mt. Nebo. March 10, 2009.
This is my post for the weekly meme Scenic Sunday. To see more Scenic Sunday pictures, or to join the fun and post your own pictures, click HERE.
Last week I showed a picture of ‘our’ cabin on Mt. Nebo in Arkansas. We went back there to celebrate my birthday and to do some hiking.
For the first time since we’ve started going to Mt. Nebo, the weather didn’t really cooperate. It was over 80° and sunny on the day we arrived, but then the clouds, rain and ice moved in.
Although we didn’t get to do as much hiking and waterfalling as we had planned, we still had a wonderful time. We did see four new waterfalls and saw nine all together. And the falls we had seen before had much more water this time.
The picture above, which can be enlarged, is the view from the back of ‘our’ cabin. Actually I was on the Rim Trail behind (and slightly below) the cabin when I took this picture. Even though it was a gray cloudy day, the view of the valley and the mountains beyond is still fantastic.
And, yes, in spite of our weather woes, we will be going back!
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'Our' cabin on Mt. Nebo. November 27, 2006.
This is my post for the weekly meme Scenic Sunday. To see more Scenic Sunday pictures, or to join the fun and post your own pictures, click HERE.
The cabin in the photo above is Cabin #60 in Mt. Nebo State Park, Arkansas. But Betsy and I refer to it as ‘our’ cabin on Mt. Nebo. We’ve stayed in this cabin four times already and are going back this week for our fifth stay.
Mt. Nebo was a favorite of Betsy’s BG — ‘Before George’ — although she never stayed in Cabin 60. Betsy took me to Mt. Nebo for the first time in 2006, and that was the first time we stayed in this cabin.
The cabin is just the right size for two. It has a fireplace in the living room, which makes Betsy very happy. The cabin is on the edge of the mountain top and has a fantastic view of the valley below. And we are often visited by deer in the evening.
Betsy and I will be gone for the entire week — hiking, searching for waterfalls, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. We hope you all have a wonderful week and we’ll see you next Sunday.
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Just a reminder that you are invited to visit my photo blog, Photos by Senior Hiker, by clicking HERE.
Sunset Beach, North Carolina. June, 2001.
As I post this on Saturday evening our part of the Plateau is under a Winter Weather Advisory. We could get an inch or two of snow.
While Betsy is delighted at the prospect I am decidedly less enthusiastic. I’ll admit that I’m looking forward to warmer weather. With that in mind, I decided to post the above picture as my contribution to Scenic Sunday.
Betsy and I try to get to the beach each year for several days. We usually go to the area around Little River, South Carolina. We go there because I lived in Little River for three years before moving to Tennessee and meeting Betsy.
This particular picture was taken in June, 2001, on Sunset Beach, North Carolina, just north of Little River. Sunset Beach is an island off the coast which is primarily residential in nature. Most of the houses are single family and it is much less ‘touristy’ than Myrtle Beach.
It is possible to walk down the beach beyond the homes. Once past the homes it’s easy to forget that their are other people around at all. There is just the sea, the sand and the dunes. This picture shows the grass on some low dunes above the high tide mark. Sunset Beach may not quite be a tropical paradise, but it is pretty close.
To see more Scenic Sunday pictures, or to join and post your own pictures, click HERE.
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Just a reminder that you are invited to visit my photo blog, Photos by Senior Hiker, by clicking HERE.
Senior Moments 