October 16-18, 2020
During these unprecedented pandemic times, it’s helpful to take a step back and ground yourself and spend some time looking after your mental health.
All the doom scrolling in the world, wondering if life will ever get back to normal, and always being worried for family members is exhausting. So, to take a break from the stresses of the world, my friend Jen and I took a socially distant trip to the mountains of western North Carolina, which is probably my favorite place in the world, during the peak foliage time for this stretch of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Please enjoy!
An overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway from the drive up to Grandfather Mountain State Park 
From the drive up to Grandfather Mountain 
Once you reach the top of Grandfather Mountain, you can cross the mile high swinging bridge 
The weather at the summit of Grandfather Mountain was not great for photography – foggy and very windy 
You couldn’t see through the fog back to the other side, but while crossing it, you could hear the wind whistle through the bridge 
Jen smiles in front of the mile high swinging bridge after crossing it 
The weather instruments at the top of the bridge were working extra hard that day 
T-pose on nature to show it who’s boss 
Tree pose to become one with nature 
Thankfully there were no bears on our hike, nor any fish who would try to capture and release us 
Andrew’s geyser was all dried up 
This time I brought a polarizer! 
There were a bunch of people at the top… 
…so for all posing pictures… 
…the masks went back on immediately after taking the shots. 
Gorgeous weather to cap a wonderfully relaxing weekend
Western North Carolina
2020
Steven Rice Photography 