Mountain Top

George Washington National Forest - Augusta County, Virginia 

I took this photograph one morning earlier this year in the George Washington National Forest. It is what I think of as a "record shot." I was there; this is what I saw. Photos like this are not intended to be scenic, or beautiful, or artistic. It is quite an ordinary photograph and not particularly interesting, yet over the last couple of months I have returned to it again and again.

Yes, it reminds me of that day as I walked all alone along the top of a ridge in the cool mountain air and the silence, but to me, it is more than just a memory. For some reason this photograph has the power to carry me back to the distant, wordless emotion that I felt that spring morning. Smells can do that sometimes.  It is a smell photograph. No one can smell it but me.

Through the trees

George Washington National Forest - Rockingham County, Virginia

The morning of my last day camping at Natural Chimneys, I drove up to Hone Quarry Recreation Area which is located in the George Washington National Forest west of Harrisonburg, Virginia. After driving through beautiful Shenandoah Valley farmland, the road began to rise into the mountains and soon I was in the Forest again. My time was limited so I did not have the chance to hike any of the trails, but I did drive up an exceedingly rough dirt road to Hone Quarry, a small lake nestled in the mountains. Then it was time to head back to the campground and prepare the trailer for the trip home.

Next week, some pictures from along the roads in Augusta County, and a short visit to the town of Churchville. Have a peaceful weekend, and thanks for reading Photography In Place.

Visit Photography In Place Print Gallery to purchase a framed print of this picture. Individual prints and note cards are also available.  

On the forest floor

George Washington National Forest - Augusta County, Virginia 

Bird's Foot Violet - Viola pedata.   Also known as Mountain Pansy

Not a pretty picture

George Washington National Forest - Augusta County, Virginia 

It was a beautiful morning in the mountains. The air was clear, the quiet broken only by the sound of birds. I was surrounded by the new colors of spring in the trees and the fresh scent of the woods. I was alone.

And then I came upon this: the remains of a campfire, a scorched tree trunk, scattered trash. I am not a misanthropic eco-purist inflexibly seeking to save the natural world from "human contamination." Nature should be enjoyed and appreciated. But it must also be respected. And the kind of disrespect pictured above is enough to bring out the misanthrope in me.

George Washington National Forest

Augusta County, Virginia 

Early in May, the dogwoods were still in bloom up in the mountains along this forest service road in the George Washington National Forest. Even though I was hardly more than fifty miles from home, where the trees were in full leaf and the dogwood blossoms already spent, here the leaves and buds where just opening out—a second spring in the mountains.