I don't know the name of this stream in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Not a stop for tourists, not much of a trail - in places no trail, but typical of the myriad of streams that lace the land. And beautiful.
"Let my soul be at rest again, for the lord has been good to me." Psalm 116:7 NLT"
The sun just crested the mountain as I walked up this mown area in the midst of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains on a cool slightly foggy morning. A wonderful place to walk if you can find a place to park!
Beautiful stream on the upper Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains. Short hike from the parking area along an old logging railroad led to several views of small cascades on the creek. The water was low and the color not too bright but overall still a wonderful place to spend a morning.
One of the most popular places in one of the most popular parks, Cades Cove draws long lines of traffic often lined up at the gate which opens at sunrise. But worth the hassle, so beautiful and a great place to view wildlife. This is just a bit after sunrise with the fog burning off.
This is a section of Acadia National Park in flux. The birch trees flourished after the big fire in the 1940's but now are being crowded out by larger, taller trees and the birches are dying in lots of places. But this field is not one of those places. They are thriving along the edge of this open meadow and make a wonderful path for almost a mile.
A hidden, reedy marsh near the top of a mountain on Mt Dessert Island.
At Colonial Williamsburg the fires are begun early for various crafts. Here wax is being melted for the days candle dipping. What is a brief aside for today's visitors was an ongoing frequent chore for those who lived in that era.
Serenity - how beautiful are the details we sometimes miss.
The lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the lord holds them by the hand.
Psalm 37:23, 24 NLT
A slightly different angle on a popular site for photography in the park at Valley Forge. The arch was dedicated in 1917. It has a lot of inscriptions and classical references that are not as well known today as to the generation that erected the memorial at the start of the 20th century. We are poorer for that missing sense of history and connections to the past.
The harbors on Mount Dessert Island are a mixture of pleasure and working boats. This harbor is mostly the latter. It is full of lobster boats, some other fishing boats and piers that support the fishing industry.
The wildflowers and the fence and a calm, cloudy day cast a quiet sense that on this spot scores of men died trying to defend or take this position at Shiloh seems impossible to comprehend. But they did, by the hundreds.
The view here is from Ebeys Landing National Historical reserve on Whidbey Island across the water to Olympic National Park and the snow covered Olympic mountains.
This is from Redwood National Park in CA. The walks in the woods just seem to settle a hush over everything.
Old overgrown motel in the foothills of North Carolina west of Winston Salem.
It is hard to not like the fall, crisp but not cold, brilliant colors and pumpkin lattes. And football.
"The lord, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken; he has summoned all humanity
from where the sun rises to where it sets. From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines in glorious radiance." Psalm 50:1, 2 NLT
The boat is tied up near one of the Lobster Piers, I believe in Southwest Harbor.
"If you come to a fork..." Coming down, emphasis on down, from Cadillac Mountain we cross several trail options but managed to stay on the correct one. This is nearing the bottom of the 3 mile hike and was lovely in the fading light of the day. It felt lots darker in the woods than this photo. I added three new trails to Acadia on this trip and re-did several favorites.
This is the home of August Saint-Gaudens who was America's premier sculptor and world famous during the last part of the 19th century. He produced amazing monuments. His Standing Lincoln in Chicago is considered one of the finest portrait statues ever made and the monument to Shaw and the Massachusetts regiment he led now installed in the Boston Commons is striking in the detail of the individual soldiers. It is New Hampshire's only National Park Service site. Though with all of the beautiful places I have been in NH I am at a loss to know why this is the only site. Perhaps, Live Free or Die is more than a motto?
This nice stone home was once used as a business and "show" house for the Potts family who operated the nearby iron forge. This was occupied by General and Mrs. Washington, Washington's staff and was the strategic heart of the army that winter. It was at Valley Forge where the men learned to be an army. More bitter winters lie ahead at Morristown but this is the place that is etched into history where the army survived and learned discipline and military skills under Steuben and a reformed supply system that was just as critical to success.
It appears to be losing the battle of gravity as it sags toward the river running past. I really like the colors of the trees and the siding. This is near Franconia New Hampshire about a half mile from our campsite. We walked a trail along the stream and came to this building. Later, heading out to Polly's Pancake Palace - a whole other story! we noted the old sign on the front of the building that said it was a blacksmith shop.
