After Doug's hike to Andrews Bald on Wednesday, the 4th of November, he developed a couple of nasty blisters. So we avoided any serious hiking for the remaining two days of our time in the Smokies. But we still got out into the National Park and enjoyed its beauty.
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| This river is in the Greenbrier area of the park, at the beginning of the Ramsey Cascades trail. |
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| This is part of the road that takes you back to the Ramsey Cascades trail. |
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| We pulled to the side of the road in Greenbrier and took a short walk off trail through the woods. |
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| A stone fence is all that remains of a homestead that was located here before the property became a National Park. |
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| This is a rather tattered Variegated Fritillary butterfly that shared the hillside with us at Douglas Dam one afternoon. |
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| The same butterfly, but showing the underside of the wings |
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This Common Checkered Skipper butterfly was also sharing our hillside that day.
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The fall colors are in evidence in spite of the haze in this view from the eastern Foothills Parkway.
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Linda, I am totally enchanted with your photos and I feel as though I took this walk myself. I have not had much success in the past, when I had my camera, of getting photos of butterflies. They always flew off before I could capture them. Gorgeous series. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteyour photographs aare gorgeous. Love the autumn colours and butterlies
ReplyDeleteThe last panorama is breathtakingly beautiful. Those woods are beckoning me. :)
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
Thanks for sharing more of your November visit to the Smokies with us. We enjoy that road back to Ramsey Cascades as well.
ReplyDeleteLovely scenes. I can imagine how fun it must have been to walk through the woods on the leaf strewn paths.
ReplyDeleteNice to see warm weather somewhat. In a bad storm, whiteout until tomorrow.
ReplyDeletethe first and last photos look like picture puzzle photos! :)
ReplyDeleteLinda - I agree...it can be tricky getting pictures of butterflies. I count my blessings when I succeed. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret.
Thanks, Mersad. You're kind. I would have wished for less haze in that shot, but we have to work with the conditions that exist, don't we?
George - We love Greenbrier for its trails and rivers and overall serenity. The trail to Ramsey Cascades is deceptively pleasant in the beginning, but there's a price to pay on the other end. The reward is a beautiful waterfall, though.
Ruth - Walking through the recently fallen leaves is one of our favorite things about going there in the fall.
Steve - We got part of your storm yesterday. But, oh, it was so beautiful today, with the snow clinging to everything.
Thanks, Tex. I appreciate your thought about the puzzles. I often look at pictures that way myself. I agree with you about the first one. The last one would make a better puzzle if the image was a little less hazy.
Such a stunning spot. You always manage to find the beauty wherever you go. Great captures of those flutterbys.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Hilary. I don't have to look too hard to find beauty in the places we like to go. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely butterflies and the scenery looks wonderful, Linda. I love those stone fences hidden in woods, they always seem so interesting. :)
ReplyDeletePetra - Homes were scattered all through the area before it became a national park, and we often find remnants of those home sites on our walks. There a numerous tiny cemeteries throughout the park, as well as these stone fences and occasional chimneys. This particular fence was not on a regular trail. If we hadn't been wandering through the woods we wouldn't have seen it.
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