Blue Ridge Parkway / Mt. Mitchell

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469-mile long route that runs through the Blue Ridge Mountains in both North Carolina and Virginia. These photos were taken during a weekend trip to the Asheville area of North Carolina, within the Pisgah National Forest. I took my two dogs and we hiked around Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in the U.S. East of the Mississippi River, and on the adjacent Balsam Nature Trail. All along the route, up and through the mountains, one can witness all sorts of vast and magnificent views of the Blue Ridge Mountains landscape. There are many places along the route to hike and to take photos. We even were fortunate enough to see a couple bears casually strolling down the road. We stayed at a small off-grid cabin built by a Swiss carpenter named Hans.