Despite plans to the contrary my TR-35 saw no activity during a recent trip to the Blue Ridge mountains.
But also in the car, and ready to go at a moment's notice, was the FT-891 and an arsenal of HamSticks.
It is so much more convenient to erect a magnet-mount antenna and fire up the radio with this set-up than the other, much more interesting method, of throwing a wire into a tree and setting up shop on a picnic table.
I wanted to add more states to my POTA "states activated" stats and the FT-891 was the rig to do it easily and with minimal effort. And minimal effort was all I had left after a day (no, 3 days) of trekking up and down hills, scrambling over rocks and wading through shallow streams.
My base for this adventure was Asheville NC, a beautiful and fun town.
For this trip, the mountain rhododendrons were in bloom and I wanted to use them as foreground to photograph the mountains.
I did that...but - North Carolina has over 300 known waterfalls, and they crept into the sphere of interests. How could they not?! I made it to three of them - all beautiful, serene and unpopulated at the hours best suited for photography.
A local photographer recommended a book (I ordered it on the spot once I saw his) that provides details of several hundred North Carolina falls, all from a photographer's perspective. I didn't know it at the time but discovering unknown waterfalls is "a thing", like DXing.
Devotees study topo maps of rivers, creeks and streams to determine where a waterfall "should" be. Then they hike the area looking for it. If it's previously unknown, they get to name it.
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| Lower Dill Falls, NC |
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Western NC is a lovely part of the planet (of course, I'm biased). I'm so glad you enjoyed some proper scrambling and hiking to grab some of the shots you snapped. You header image is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteWe do have a lot of waterfalls here and we locals keep a secret list that we only give out to friends. :) [I'll share some with you if you feed me a few beers.] Ha ha!
Cheers,
Thomas
K4SWL
Sounds like a deal, Thomas - I believe this will come to pass (and hopefully soon)!
ReplyDelete73,
John AE5X
Michigan has hundreds of waterfalls, but only two in lower Michigan. All the rest are in upper Michigan, strangely enough.
ReplyDeleteA local photographer, known to the leader of our group when we went on a waterfall photography tour a few years ago, has also written a book on all the known Michigan waterfalls, with maps and pictures.
Like you, I snapped it up.
73,
-- Dave, N8SBE
I may see some of those areas myself someday - our new part-time neighbors are from Boyne City MI and have invited us up for a visit at their other home.
ReplyDelete73,
John AE5X