Just hanging on!
Now isn't this interesting? By following the watercourse, I found another cluster of plants growing on a sheer cliff.
Not a slope, but a cliff oriented 90 degrees to the horizontal! And it was covered with a layer of
Sphagnum and pitcher plants. In this photograph I am shooting up-slope, so the sense of the
steepness is hard to envision. Think sheer cliff!
I burned up the rest of my roll on these plants, hoping against hope that by shooting in the shade (with a warming
filter) I would counteract the effects of the burning sun. You can see I was only partly successful. Another trip, another
time....
I was now heavily over my schedule, so extreme measures were required to avoid a hike through
the forest at night. ("Just don't let The Dark catch you!")
I packed my camera gear very snugly, and cinched my pack's straps tight so nothing could flop.
Then I started back at a jog. Alternating between a brisk jog and a full run, I flew through the forest--not even stopping to
look for the barred owls that started calling in the dusk. I ticked off landmarks as I ran, and as the last of the light left
me, my trail met with the main path--a road wide enough that it was impossible to get lost on. I slowed to a fast
walk, but it was not until I arrived at the car--sweaty and unkempt--that I breathed a sigh of relief. The Dark didn't catch
me after all, not this time!
That evening I recounted the day's fabulous
adventures--the icy wet misery in Pisgah National Forest, the power hike to the
Sarracenia bald, and the run back to the car. Mandy, much to my astonishment, concluded that she had made the
right choice in deferring from joining me in the day's fun! Go figure!
