“The Golden Hour.” That’s what photographers call the early morning light right after dawn. On my first Golden Hour post, Marco Morales suggested, “looks like a genre onto itself.” So Marco, this one’s for you, my friend!
One of my favorite places on Earth is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My wife and I have twice driven the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Shenandoah down to the Smokies. At 35 mph, many curves and countless stops at scenic overlooks, it’s a couple day trip, but worth every minute. Finally, we’re in the Smokies!
Our favorite campsite, that’s only accessible by a small dirt road, is right where two streams come together. We setup camp in time to have supper. A dense fog settles in just before the other “Golden Hour.” The sunset illuminates the fog so much the woods almost looks on fire!
We have to get our backpacks ready tonight. We’re getting up before dawn to get on the east rim trail so we can watch the sunrise break the ridge of the mountains.
After a long hike, it’s good to be back at our campsite. The sound of the rapids will quickly lull us to sleep tonight.
There’s no reason to get up early the next morning, but I’m suddenly wide awake with anticipation! I try to not disturb Judy getting out of the tent. I’m going to go fly fishing! I’ve looked forward to doing this as part of the trip for months! With any luck, we’ll have trout for breakfast this morning!
(These images were created using either MidJourney photo mode or artistic mode. My goal was to try to duplicate the warmth and emotion that V3 produced in my first “Golden Hour” post. Minor retouching on 2 images.)
