North Carolina Trip - October 2015

For the past six years, my wife has had a conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. We discovered that there is a lot of beautiful country between our house and the destination. There are a couple of places we visit over and over, yet each year we add new stops to our itinerary.

The 2015 trip saw us visiting a multitude of new locations, as we changed the entire northern half of our route, visiting Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Resort Park in Kentucky, as well as Clifton Mill in Ohio. Of course, we still hit one of our favorite stops; Pilot Mountain in North Carolina.

The Fall colors were just a little short of peak, however still beautiful. So much of the scenery we just had to take in through our eyes when the opportunity was not there to capture pictures.

Here are a few of the images I captured along the way. The first is a fisheye view in Hawk's Nest State Park, just before sunset:

There is so much beauty in the world around us. While I try to capture some of it with my camera, there is so much that simply has to be seen with our eyes. If I had my way, I would constantly be on the road, taking it all in. The picture above is a structure in Hawk's Nest State Park, and the one below is from Daniel Boone National Forest.

As I mentioned, Pilot Mountain is one of our favorite stops. The formation is unique to the area, and visible for miles. There is a winding, scenic road that takes you up to the top, leaving just a short walk to a viewing area.

Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio, was a new stop this year. I have a friend in Kentucky, who is an amazing photographer; Bill Fultz. While he specializes in waterfalls, he makes a lot of roadtrips, for which I am grateful. Whenever he posts pictures, I am able to take a look at a map and figure out when I can visit the beautiful places he shares. This is one of those:

One of the nice things about all of these places, is that the conditions change, making each visit unique.

Thank you for taking the time to read and look at my blog entry. Come back soon for more adventures.

Mike