The Autumn leaves drew me to the Great Smoky Mountains. I'd arrived too early though and they hadn't started to change. The days were chilly though so it wouldn't be long. Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I stopped often to take in the view. The Blue Ridge Parkway meanders through 470 miles of enchanted forest between the Shenandoah National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The native Cherokee people traditionally called the Great Smoky Mountains "Shaconage" and it translates to “place of the blue smoke." They were right. As dawn crested the peaks, sunshine threw rays over and under the blue smoke that blanketed the valleys and crept up the edges of the mountains. That's this picture. A place of magic and smoke and serenity.
Taken from the Blue Ridge Parkway before the damage from Hurricane Helene. Hurricane Helene triggered multiple landslides across the parkway’s roads, several of which resulted in weakened structural integrity and loss of road segments. Some parkway facilities were also damaged by the winds and falling trees. The parkway’s roads were covered in thousands of downed trees and tree debris. Portions of the Parkway remain closed. A portion of the sales from this image will be donated to Samaritans's Purse to help the victims of the Hurricane. It will be years before the area is restored.

Added Dec 3, 2024

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