today was a long 12 miles uphill day. But all in all I’m doing pretty good. While in the smokies I am unable to camp anywhere I want and must stay at the shelter areas. This to me makes no sense, but hey that’s the parks service for ya. It was a humid day. The kind that you literally sweat buckets all day. The pace was good and the 12 miles went by quickly.
I arrived at the NC/TN boarder and walked through a beautiful path of wild flowers by the millions. Small and vibrant it was a thrill. I slowed the pace and spent a while shooting and just observing. This was the most beautiful part of the trail thus far.
Now on the other hand the biting flies were hell!!!!! A hit from a fellow hiker named 3D helped immensely. Apparently that old wives tale that I had heard and forgot years ago about holding something higher than your head and all the bugs will swarm the high spot. Hahahaha I just smiled and said thanks. Then I actually tried it and let me tell you that’s the ticket. I just slid my go pro pole up and hung my hat on it. Boom problem fixed. And you know I made sure to thank him as soon as I saw him down the trail.
It was a sad day as well becuase Mandi (Snapshot) had to go back home. On our hike into Fontana dam she rolled her ankle. Not a horrible injury although in sept she broke her ankle and a car accident. Worried about her ankle I convinced her to go home and get off if it. I was concerned she was going to permenantly Damage it. This makes the journey most def more lonely although it is something I have to do. To distract myself from missing her I immersed myself into my work. Shooting lots today and making sure to take time and wander through the woods.
So as this new part of journey begins I see a lot of solo adventure and many great images to come!!!!!
The next step in my documentary process is to start shooting about 15 min of video everyday. Probably 15 shots and to also start planning out my time lapse shots.
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