Shining Rock Ledge, check...
Well, I must acclaim that my return to Shining Rock after the rain-out was triumphant, to say the least. I managed to motor out to the Western boonies of North Carolina again this weekend to retackle what mother nature had unrightfully denied me.
The Shining Rock Ledge proved to be an absolutely wonderfull, secluded space. I was amazed at both the remoteness and the granduer of the range. Essentially a cascading set of 8 peaks beginning with the tallest of the bunch: Black Balsam and ending at the majestic Cold Mountain, the rolling range was complete with open grassy balds, rhododendron obscured peaks, rock outcroppings and the pine covered quartz top of Shining Rock. Even though I managed to forget the SD card for my Nikon, I still managed to collect a decent set of photos; albeit selective low rez ones with the onboard memory, doh!
I found myself repeatedly comparing the easy going nature of these Appalachian hills to the euro-alpine ruggedness of the Adirondaks. While I could stand and gaze with complete content at the 360 degree vistas of seemingly endless ranges and ridges of Appalachia, why was my mind making a mental check of the in-your-face trails, timberline and 'holy crap' vistas of the 'Daks? Did I think the Blue Ridge was too easy going? I mean, Most of the trails I've hit so far are easily accessible from a road, have moderate vertical gains and generally find me whistling care-free down the trail. Contrast this to the inky-black muck 'n' boulders trails in the High Peaks of the 'Daks; where you #@!$!@& curse your way all the way up the climb, only to relent with complete exhaltation once at the top. I don't know, it just seems like the reward is a bit sweeter if the road to the top is a bit sour.
Anyway, 8 down, 32 to go.
Sunset of the gods:
The Catawba Rhododendron in full effect:
Yeehaw!
You can view the entire albumn here:
Shining Rock Redux
The Shining Rock Ledge proved to be an absolutely wonderfull, secluded space. I was amazed at both the remoteness and the granduer of the range. Essentially a cascading set of 8 peaks beginning with the tallest of the bunch: Black Balsam and ending at the majestic Cold Mountain, the rolling range was complete with open grassy balds, rhododendron obscured peaks, rock outcroppings and the pine covered quartz top of Shining Rock. Even though I managed to forget the SD card for my Nikon, I still managed to collect a decent set of photos; albeit selective low rez ones with the onboard memory, doh!
I found myself repeatedly comparing the easy going nature of these Appalachian hills to the euro-alpine ruggedness of the Adirondaks. While I could stand and gaze with complete content at the 360 degree vistas of seemingly endless ranges and ridges of Appalachia, why was my mind making a mental check of the in-your-face trails, timberline and 'holy crap' vistas of the 'Daks? Did I think the Blue Ridge was too easy going? I mean, Most of the trails I've hit so far are easily accessible from a road, have moderate vertical gains and generally find me whistling care-free down the trail. Contrast this to the inky-black muck 'n' boulders trails in the High Peaks of the 'Daks; where you #@!$!@& curse your way all the way up the climb, only to relent with complete exhaltation once at the top. I don't know, it just seems like the reward is a bit sweeter if the road to the top is a bit sour.
Anyway, 8 down, 32 to go.
Sunset of the gods:
The Catawba Rhododendron in full effect:
Yeehaw!
You can view the entire albumn here:
posted by twomartinis at 8:29 PM
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