A Cookie Jar Place
Unless I’m truly in a hurry, I never park as close to a destination as possible, especially at a restaurant… an extra step or two can never hurt, can it? I suppose that depends on how many steps you had taken beforehand. I try to do 10,000 steps a day, for a number of reasons, not least of which it’s good for you. That being said, I don’t really enjoy walking for walking’s sake… but if you add to that a lovely vista as an endpoint to set the camera in front of, well, that changes things exponentially! There are few things I like better than a hike to the proper motivator… not just a beautiful place, a “cookie jar” place.
I love the wonders of the easily accessed views of our mountains from the Blue Ridge Parkway, particularly when others are along who are experiencing it for the first time. Sometimes, however, the unspoiled beauty is lying there in the wilderness, up there beyond the easy reach, just like a cookie jar. They’re places where the journey takes a little more effort, but just like reaching that cookie jar, the rewards can be sweet.
The cascades of Flat Laurel Creek, in the region of Black Balsam and Sam Knob, is no doubt a cookie jar place, and more so when autumn’s palette is evident. This is among some of the higher places around the parkway, so the season’s colors often occur here early in October. The hike in to this point is a little over two miles… the hike beyond takes you into Sam Knob. I found myself the first to blaze the trail up on this particular morning… I knew that not so much because I wasn’t running across other hikers, but rather because I hiked through enough webs stretched across the trail that I appeared to have on a spider silk suit… but only on the front half. I had to hike backwards for a while to complete the ensemble.
As are many such places, this place always seems to invite me to stay for just a while longer... "What's your hurry?" Mere moments after I left this spot, I found that I was no longer alone, but the reverie while sitting on a rock amidst this tumbling stream and Technicolor forest remains. Where is your favorite “cookie jar” place? Post a link here in the comments.
After following one of the tags, I found two of my contacts had been to this very spot, though closer to the boulders in the background here... check out www.flickr.com/photos/stammphotography/12737789143/ from Josh Stamm, and www.flickr.com/photos/52399662@N05/5200922135/in/photolis... from Sharon Canter.
A Cookie Jar Place
Unless I’m truly in a hurry, I never park as close to a destination as possible, especially at a restaurant… an extra step or two can never hurt, can it? I suppose that depends on how many steps you had taken beforehand. I try to do 10,000 steps a day, for a number of reasons, not least of which it’s good for you. That being said, I don’t really enjoy walking for walking’s sake… but if you add to that a lovely vista as an endpoint to set the camera in front of, well, that changes things exponentially! There are few things I like better than a hike to the proper motivator… not just a beautiful place, a “cookie jar” place.
I love the wonders of the easily accessed views of our mountains from the Blue Ridge Parkway, particularly when others are along who are experiencing it for the first time. Sometimes, however, the unspoiled beauty is lying there in the wilderness, up there beyond the easy reach, just like a cookie jar. They’re places where the journey takes a little more effort, but just like reaching that cookie jar, the rewards can be sweet.
The cascades of Flat Laurel Creek, in the region of Black Balsam and Sam Knob, is no doubt a cookie jar place, and more so when autumn’s palette is evident. This is among some of the higher places around the parkway, so the season’s colors often occur here early in October. The hike in to this point is a little over two miles… the hike beyond takes you into Sam Knob. I found myself the first to blaze the trail up on this particular morning… I knew that not so much because I wasn’t running across other hikers, but rather because I hiked through enough webs stretched across the trail that I appeared to have on a spider silk suit… but only on the front half. I had to hike backwards for a while to complete the ensemble.
As are many such places, this place always seems to invite me to stay for just a while longer... "What's your hurry?" Mere moments after I left this spot, I found that I was no longer alone, but the reverie while sitting on a rock amidst this tumbling stream and Technicolor forest remains. Where is your favorite “cookie jar” place? Post a link here in the comments.
After following one of the tags, I found two of my contacts had been to this very spot, though closer to the boulders in the background here... check out www.flickr.com/photos/stammphotography/12737789143/ from Josh Stamm, and www.flickr.com/photos/52399662@N05/5200922135/in/photolis... from Sharon Canter.