“Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose…” — James Taylor, Sweet Baby James
Kitty Myers and the Badger were returning to Asheville from a solid hike on Mount Mitchell (and, of course, some bouldering by the Rock Sprite) when we decided to pull over at one of my favorite spots on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Craggy Gardens area is well known among photographers as a prime place to catch a sunset or those late-afternoon sunbeams that cast a golden radiance on the mountains and valleys of Big Ivy below.
The light was already softening into that perfect early-evening radiance, sliding toward sunset. We weren’t expecting much, but the mountains had other plans. Layer after layer of ridges unfolded in front of us — rich, saturated greens in the foreground giving way to those hazy, distant blues that make the Blue Ridge so special.
The sunbeams caught the fresh spring growth and turned whole mountainsides into a living tapestry. James Taylor’s words from 1970 floated through my mind as I scrambled between several spots and clicked the shutter again and again while the light danced across the ancient slopes.
Back then – 54 years ago – the young man who would become the Honey Badger was just 17 years old, a Fountain City whiz kid on Snowden Drive listening to Sweet Baby James on repeat, never imagining I’d one day be sharing moments like this in these very mountains with my beloved.
The Blue Ridge Parkway has been a slow-healing friend since Hurricane Helene. Great news for drivers: the stretch from Asheville up through Craggy Gardens to Mount Mitchell is open again. You can once more reach the insanely beautiful peaks of the famous Black Mountain range. Just use extra care, as road crews are actively using this section to reach and repair the roadway past Black Mountain Gap, a portion of which remains closed.
Standing there with Kitty as the warm sunset light washed over the ridges and that familiar melody played in my mind, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. Act III of life has its privileges, and one of them is watching these mountains recover while still delivering quiet, perfect evenings like this one.
If you’re in the area, go see the views for yourself. Drive up, stop often, and let the deep greens and blues remind you why these mountains keep calling us back.
Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages.
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