Thrice Into the Looking Glass: Independence Day, 2009

Last week, I mentioned that I was heading off over the holiday to do some hiking in North Carolina. Well, let me tell you: for me, there’s nothing like celebrating independence, whether my own or the nation’s, on the top of a mountain.

Especially when it’s sunset, and I happen have a camera handy. From the Pisgahs, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I present one of my favorite sunsets ever:

Independence Day 2009, Looking West (from Black Balsam Bald)

But the real story wasn’t the sunset — it was in the other direction:

Independence Day 2009, Looking East (from Black Balsam Bald)

There are significant milestones in this photograph. Check this detail, from a lightened, cropped center of the above:

Independence Day 2009 (Detail — Click for larger)

Graveyard Fields Overlook is important because it was our drop-off spot, twenty-eight hours previously. I was celebrating walking from that spot up the current one — miles horizontally, and hundreds and hundreds of feet vertically, up and down. [Scroll back up and look at the full photograph to put that in context. —Ed.] It included a night outside in the upper forties and continuing issues with getting enough water to stay on the trail, but the end result was exactly what I wanted: beautiful photographs worth both professionally and personally celebrating, on a day celebrating national independence.

That’s before I even mention the importance of Looking Glass Rock. Here’s another view, which I took Friday morning (July 3rd), from the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway:

Looking Glass Rock (from Blue Ridge Parkway)

Why take that photograph? Because it, too, was a celebration. You see, we’d hiked up that the previous day — Thursday — and spent the night at the summit.

Indeed, here’s the view from the top of the rock face, looking back at the Blue Ridge, with Graveyard Fields — and Black Balsam Bald — near the back center:

Looking Glass Rock (Face)

Last but not least, a photograph from a rainy and cold Sunday morning, featuring another side of the Blue Ridge — as shown here, also known as the “Smoky” — Mountains:

Seventeen (Blue Ridge) Peaks

Many thanks to trip leader Phillip Bradshaw, along with his wife Neecee and our traveling companion Clifford, for a great, independent, holiday weekend.

Plus, a bonus:

Ketchup’s (Mountaintop) Senses

I’m usually not much of a dog person, but as dogs go, Ketchup is far and away my favorite. He’s smart, playful, usually obedient (even to me), carries his own water and food on the trail, and always adds to a hiking adventure — the very definition of “good dog.”

However, it’s the visuals in the above, caught as we rolled around together atop Black Balsam (he was having a blast running around those balds), that really work for me. It’s as if the mountains in the bokeh, the grass below us, and his alert expression combine to paint a picture of his hearing, eyesight, smell, and sense of feeling.

Which adds up to a … uh, tasteful photograph. [Drum roll, please. —Ed.] G’boy!

These photographs are posted as part of a temporary gallery; once I get the hardware issues I’ve mentioned under control and get back to knocking things off the to-do list, I’ll post on why it’s temporary and where it’ll be next. Thanks for your patience.

Busy week ahead, so next post ASAP. Meanwhile, and as always, thanks for stopping by.