Come journey with us as we explore and highlight the people and places that make the Blue Ridge and Southern Appalachian Mountains special and unique
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: The Beautiful North Carolina Mountains
I am living somewhere in the middle of being stir-crazy and grateful during this coronavirus pandemic. But thankfully I have some positive ways of coping. If you like travel and exploring the outdoors I think you’re going to find them helpful too.
I am stir crazy because my options for traveling and enjoying the outdoors (which is my pressure release switch) are severely limited due to the ever-growing list of trail, park and forest closures. The U.S. Forest Service just announced a shutdown of Pisgah National Forest’s dispersed camping and backroad trails, the National Forest Service just announced extensive closures of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Forest is shut down.
MAKING THE BEST OF THE SITUATION
Despite being stir-crazy, I am trying to find the silver lining in all of this. Here are a couple of things I am grateful for. It’s not a complete list but these are some of the highlights.
- Family dinners
- Playing tennis with my kids
- Taking walks
- Relaxing on the back deck
- Learning my DSLR camera
- Finally getting some staining done on my back deck
- Big Green Egg
- Cataloging future adventures in my travel journal
- Discovering new places to explore from some of my favorite influencers
- Working on launch of the Exploration Local Podcast
As an adventure travel enthusiast what I am UBER grateful for, and what I really want to share with you, are some very talented people that do an amazing job of capturing the beauty of the North Carolina mountains. I’ve learned about places in North Carolina that I didn’t even know existed, and I have been blown away by the beauty that these immensely talented landscape photographers have captured in their images.
Come on…let’s meet these inspirational people.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
The origin of the quote above is supposedly credited to Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright and theatre director, who first said “A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.” It is said to have been paraphrased and shortened a few times after his death in 1906 to what we know now as, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
I really like Ibsen’s original version, especially the part about deep impression. That’s what these photographers have done for me. They’ve all made a deep impression on me with their images and have made not being able to get out on the trails and streams tolerable. I know they’ll do the same for you.
ADVENTURE & LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Leslie Restivo lives in Boone, NC. She is very comfortable in the backcountry of the Highlands and Linville Gorge. She has been known to rappel deep into the Gorge to grab the perfect shot. She is a Brand Ambassador at Great Outdoor Provision Co and also the Admin for Roam Outdoors and Appalachian Explorers. Be sure to click on each link to check out Leslie’s epic shots. Her commentary and description of her photos are equally beautiful.
Next up is Dustin Presnell, who also lives in Boone, NC. He is a North Carolina landscape and adventure photographer, explorer and outdoor enthusiast. If you want to see some killer sunsets and sunrises and even some night time splendor photography, be sure to check out his Instagram page.
Hailing from Tennessee is Adam Gravett. Adam is a co-founder of Up N’ Adam Adventures, where love of the Smoky Mountains and over 40 years of backcountry experience and knowledge merge together to bring adventure photography to life. Be sure to check out their website and check back often as they will be launching UNA ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY tours & excursion this year.
Rounding out our esteemed list is WNC Photo Tours, based in Asheville, NC. WNC Photo Tours “offers experiential immersions at stunning locations in the mountains near Asheville – teaching you how to create images that you’re passionate about.” Visit their website for tons of photos of areas surrounding Asheville.
FACEBOOK PAGES
Why you should join these groups: GREAT PHOTOS AND COOL PEOPLE.
I mean seriously, people who love the outdoors are just cool and unpretentious (for the most part). There are so many great contributors in these Facebook pages. They are updated several times each day with amazing photos and trip descriptions. Each page is like a virtual real-time guidebook. My future trip list has a bunch of trails and destinations that I’ve discovered from these pages.
I Love the Mountains of North Carolina
The Mountains of North Carolina
North Carolina Hiking & Waterfalls
We all need some encouragement and a distraction from the pandemic that is affecting all of us. None of us is entirely immune to feelings of isolation and all of it’s affects; anxiety, fear, boredom, depression, anger, and more. I hope this offers you opportunities to escape and leave the worries of today – even if just for a brief moment – and virtually experience the amazing and beautiful North Carolina Mountains.
Mike
You’ve always been one of the most positive thinking persons I have ever met. I loved reading this and cannot wait to hear the podcast! We need more people like you in the this world we live in. As you have shown above, it is a BEAUTIFUL, MAGNIFICANT place!
Thank you for the kind words Pete! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out the blog. I hope you enjoy the podcast too! Take care my friend!