Between two jobs, a documentary, and applying to grad school, it’s pretty sparing that I get some time to take off to the mountains. Graced with a day and half off from both jobs, I used the short window I had and dashed off to Grandfather Mountain State Park for some camping and escape from the crazy to-do list of my life.
I told myself I was still being productive, as I wanted to take an “easy test” on some new camping and photography gear I had just acquired. In time for the fall season, I had just recently picked up a new backpacking tent, and in time for fall photography I had also just gotten a new set of lenses to test out before the leaves started changing. I drove out of Chapel Hill at 8am, knowing I would need to be back and working by 4pm the next day.
**Disclaimer because I know my mother reads this** I did go to the campsite alone, but was directly off of a well traveled trail, and both of my roommates knew exactly where I was and when I was to return. Not exactly the buddy system, but not a lot of people can go camping for a day and half in the middle of week. In fact, only I could, so I made sure to play things safe and do a short easy hike in a popular park.
Unfortunately, the trip would only really be successful in testing my camping gear. To my dismay, clouds were a constant factor while on the mountain, and as a result my photography abilities were severely limited. It can be a bit frustrating to climb 2000ft and not see more than 40 feet ahead of you. However, I am far from complaining, the exercise and the quiet hike made up for any photography frustrations. I do really love the feeling of being in the woods, and even a short trip is well worth the stress relief. But I’ll need to go back some time soon to see what the mountains actually look like.
I did manage to grab a few shots, as you see below. These are also all added to my Miscellaneous Nature series. Be on the lookout for some news about Project Bucket in the next post!
