Four days of beauty

Last weekend I celebrated my labor day weekend in Asheville, North Carolina.  I already posted some of my photos from Biltmore Estate and here are the photos from our days of camping and exploring the mountains.  Lately I have been feeling the need to get away and see something inspiring and I’m so happy I finally had the chance.  The Blue Ridge Mountains are such a spectacular place.  The trails, the waterfalls, the overlooks — it really gets you back to a place of happiness.  It’s my belief that it would benefit everyone to spend a few days in the mountains.  It’s like a reset button on stress and a chance to be reminded of how beautiful and simple the world can be.

As I look back through these images I’m reminded of the distance of the rolling mountains and the restoration of my faith.  But, I feel these photographs don’t quite give it justice — the way it takes your breath away as you stand on the edge of a peak and feel so small compared to the untouched land that surrounds you. The way the sun shines through the clouds onto the mountains as the shadows rolls over the peaks, while your vision stands completely unobstructed by any man made stresses.  It’ a beautiful break.

I loved getting to photograph so many different types of light while staying here– because we were basically camping in the clouds, the weather would constantly go from bright and sunny, to thick fog rolling in, to a light rain and then back.  The day we drove in there was so much fog that we could only see about 10 feet in front of us.  Hiking the next day was such a surprise when we went back to that drive and saw all of the amazing views that had previously been hidden.  Below are some of the images from the weekend — exploring our campsite, cooking food over our fire, documenting some of the fun we had and the amazing things we saw.

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drying out twigs for the fire

Setting up the Site

First night cooking burgers!

Awesome covered trails

going way too crazy with the lighter fluid

S’mores!

some long exposure fun

painting with light

So many Butterflies!

From the top of the tower! Facing fears

accidental long exposure

Looking Glass Falls

exploring our campsite

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato soup

long exposure fire

A Day at Biltmore Estate

I love long weekends and this one was particularly perfect. My boyfriend just got back from seven weeks away doing pre-deployment training and this was the perfect few days to make up for lost time.  We decided to make the most of it by driving up to Asheville to camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains — I’m pretty sure it would be in everyones best interest to spend a few days in the mountains, it was so beautiful.  On Sunday we decided to go back to civilization for a bit to spend the day at the Biltmore Estate to learn some american history and do a little wine tasting.  It’s unbelievable how amazing this place was — it was the home of the Vanderbilt’s and it covers 8,000 acres of land right in the midst of the mountains, it’s the largest property in the U.S. The architecture of this building is amazing, the gardens are beautiful, the views of the mountains and the grounds are incredible, and the wine was delicious :).

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Biltmore Estate

Loading my Hasselblad

coolest trees

coy pond!

Gorgeous Gardens

The Conservatory

off to wine tasting

amazing views

All in all my day was awesome, we got to learn all about this beautiful home and explore the property, but one day is just not enough.  If only I could afford to spend the whole weekend at the Inn on the property …..ahh wishful thinking.  I would love to go back though, maybe do some of their horse or bike trails.  I hope you all had just as wonderful Labor Day weekends.  I have many more photos from my weekend to come, maybe I’ll even have some of my film developed!