CSX hauls coal up along the Nolichucky. I made it across just before the long train lumbered by.

I had forgotten to buy duct tape and voila! Duct tape!

This stream was the largest unbridged crossing so far.

It's blowdown time.

Jones Branch.

Jones Branch.

At around or over 30 feet, this was one of my higher bear hangs.

I bought an avocado for dinner, forgetting about the pit I'd have to pack out. But it was a teeny pit, and it was worth it.

It is called Beauty Spot. Really.

I still don't know what it is called. But it is nice.

And sometimes a little purple.

Swallowtail.

A slightly different swallowtail.

I ran around after the butterflies, and got a few decent pictures.

Trail through a field.

More flame azalea.

Pine forest atop Unaka Mountain. Not a common sight down south.

Cute little mushroom. Don't eat. Maybe.

Some bird lost its feather.

Wingfoot says this is squawroot growing on rotting oak roots.

It is always to see color in leaves.

Open space near the summit of Roan High Knob, just three feet lower than Washington.

Purple against yellow. Beauty.

The Rhododendron on Roan High Knob are famous.

With lots of traffic, the trail is well-built.

The sun was warm, but the views spectacular across Hump Mountain.

View across Hump Mountain. I had a great day. Except for the [many expletives deleted] ATVers.

Pondering. I really like this picture.

Overmountain Shelter, a.k.a. "The Barn."

White blaze through the trees.

Out in to the open.

Views from the Humps.

Over one Hump and on to the next. Lots of folks out but it seemed solitary.

The trail stays on the ridge and in the open.

My shadow in the grass.

Wildflowers.

What a splendid view of the trail

I am now angry and bitter at the camera.

Grays Lily.

Looking up in to a Grays Lily and the sky.

Deer.

Moo.

That is a big cow and those are long horns. I talked to them in hopes that none would charge and gore me. None did.

Longhorn cattle. Big, stupid animals.

The trail drops below cliffs as it descends from Hump Mountain.

Apple House Shelter. The first time (of two occurrences) I knocked my stove over. The boy scouts there were enthralled as the fire burned itself out. This was the view in sixteen seconds, it looks like daylight, but it was nearly dark. The bloke in the red didn't move around too much.

The next day dawned hazy, hot and pretty humid.

Jones Falls. Too bright for good pictures.

The base of Jones Falls.

Some kind of red flower

A white blaze above the Elk River. Sadly, no skiing.

The Elk River was one of the larger, lower-flowing rivers in the south.

Mountaineer Falls was small but pretty.

Mountaineer shelter was less than a month old and smelled new. Bob Peoples commandeered about 150 folks out of Trail Days to carry in all the wood.

Mushrooms I shouldn't eat.

More mushrooms I shouldn't eat.

More mushrooms I shouldn't eat.

H2O

had I known my mushrooms, I'd have never gone hungry.

The trail loops down the mountain and continues far below.

Fallen Rhododendron petals.

Following an old railroad bed towards Laurel Fork Gorge.

The high bridge attests to floods.

Laurel Fork Falls, complete with local folks in for a shower.

The trail is carved in to the side of the canyon and held in place with concrete.

And the river is beaver dammed, the first time I've seen one of those.

Happy fourth of July. Get your fireworks out of a school bus. Makes sense. They probably sell guns the rest of the year.

The view down from Watauga Dam.

Watauga Lake and fog.

A red eft.

The same red eft, but closer.

And now for something completely different: A red eft on a leaf.

The trail in the fog. I would miss these nice dirt trails in Pennsylvania. And Maine.

Purple flowers in the rain.

A grave? A chimney?

The Tennessee Eastman Hiking Club puts metal mesh over all of their bog bridges to improve traction. It is nice.

It smells like rain, and with it pain, and it's coming my way. Those of you on Facebook may recognize the barn in the foreground as the same barn in the background of Derek Loudermilk's profile picture (as of late December, 2006).

A field along the AT. Mr. Loudermilk took almost the exact same photo (Mirrored here), albeit in November in the sun.

Fog.

A big mushroom.