in march, Anthony and I drove down to the north carolina mountains. the trip began with a blizzard as we cautiously wound through appalachian highways. at first, we marveled at the beautiful snow covered trees in west virginia, not knowing what laid ahead; however soon, we were driving 30 miles an hour and wondered how the conditions kept getting worse. we eventually arrived in boone, nc to three inches of snow coating the ground with it still coming down. the next morning, we drove into pisgah national forest through five inches of snow and little hope that we would be able to camp at all. after some setbacks (i.e. driving a honda fit on snowy gravel roads), we eventually made it to the trail head. though we weren't able to hike in as far as we had planned given our late start, we were still blown away by the trail we covered.
the wind struck me most about the hike. it was loud and relentless; you could see it rustling the trees before you felt it. and now looking back on the photos I shot, I am again able to see the effects of wind. the few trees that were able to out-fight the gusts clung to the exposed face of the mountain and show what years of rugged conditions look like. it felt natural to call that mountain home for a night, to experience a part of the earth where humans don't live.