I posted recently about the laurel and rhododendrons balds on the parkway and promised you and me a road trip. This spot is only 20 miles from Asheville but I felt like I had gone on vacation. The first disappointment is that I assumed (you know about assumptions) that since the rhododendrons were blooming here it would be the same 2000 ft higher elevation and on the top of the mountain ridge. Oops they had already bloomed. Flowers here and there but the green of the forest and fern floor is so healing to me, it was wonderful. The path to Douglas Falls for another time. There is also the mountain to sea trail and many other connecting trails through the area.
Things I found interesting where this tree hollowed out by a lightning strike and still full of leaves, the trail Bella looked at me and asked if I was kidding and the twisted branches of the laurel that grows with the rhododendron. An afternoon adventure.
Related articles
- Hiking Through a Rhododendron Tunnel (mountainmae.wordpress.com)
mountainmae 
Pretty! Seems I have found a new place to peruse in my evening (or raining when it is bestowed upon us) time!
Looking forward to it!
“.”
Cat
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Reblogged this on Kelly Gutierrez Journal.
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Beautiful!
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I like the hollow tree a lot. It looks like something from a fairy tail.
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Oh, the glory of green … summer poised on the edge of wild abandon! Spectacular photos, thanks!
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Thanks for your comments – it feels like a wild place there in the woods. I sat for a while on a rock listening to the bird song and breathing in the green. No cars, no people just nature, my dog and me.
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It looks lovely and cool and lush there… that last photo of the twisted branches is amazing!
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It was hard to get a picture that made any sense to someone just looking at it. All the laurels which grow 6-8 feet are twisted like that so imagine that all around you between the ground plants and the towering trees. People make furniture and walking sticks among other things with them. Glad you like it.
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nice and green
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So many shades of green too.
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I clicked to enlarge each pic so I could get a good sense of the beauty you were surrounded by. Love the stones on that path. What a glorious planet we share.
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The look on Bella’s face was so funny – she really was asking if I expected her to start climbing. We had already gone up one that was not quite as rocky and i decided it was time to turn back. Glorious is a good word for our beautiful planet.
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I love the various shades of greens in the forest. Sometimes when I try to capture them in a photo I am disappointed in the result but you have done a beautiful job!
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It amazed me when I saw the pictures that the color actually translated. They have no retouching at all.
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&I wonder if human mercilessness has hollowed out the heart of that tree:'(
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I am sure that the half-hollow tree was from a lightning strike. You could see how the burn spiraled down or up the tree. There were also two others nearby that had been hit. That must have been quite a storm!
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What beautiful trees!! ♥
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It was glorious – so many shades of green and dappled sunlight.
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