About 100 years ago, logging companies invaded the area now known as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These operations clear cut many sections of the Smokies, bringing profits to the owners and cash to locals who were employed to reap the grim harvest.
One such area was the Big Creek Valley, which ran parallel to the Tennessee/North Carolina state line. Railroad lines were built into the mountains to transport the men and logs from the wilderness to the sawmills of the Pigeon River area and beyond.
The legacy of the logging was the creation of a national park and trails created when the companies removed the railroad hardware. The trees grew back, and a phenomenal part of the creek came to be known as The Cathedral for the arching trees that frame the rocks and water of the mountain stream. Access, ironically, is from the trails created to facilitate the prior destruction of the area.
Photographers learned that images of The Cathedral are captivating in the color and light of autumn. Nature’s beauty cannot be subdued.
Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at Thomas Mabry Art @ Banks Creek Barn.