My old friend Indiana Mike and I conspired for another photographic adventure. We signed up for the Southern Appalachian Mountains - Advanced Tour with professional photographer Rod Planck. We've enjoyed great tours with Rod and his wife Marlene for 10 years now. In fact it's thanks to Rod and Marlene we became Indiana Mike and Arizona Mike; after all they had to have some way to distinguish between "the Mikes".

Tellico Plains, the location for this tour, is a small town in the southeastern corner of Tennessee on the Tellico River and at the western end of the Cherohala Skyway. From our tour base at Mountain View Cabins we had access to the Cherokee and Nantahala national forests, part of the Great Smoky Mountains. Yes there are hills and hollers aplenty here with rivers and countless streams.

I usually share photos by the day, but for me, on this trip, it all seemed to run together in a blur of mountains, water, wildflowers, sunrise and sunset so I'll share photos by category. To see Indiana Mike's photos go here. Enjoy!

Sunrise

Leaving in the darkness of early morning we would drive the Cherohala Skyway to a point just into North Carolina at about 5,000 feet elevation. The first morning it was chilly with a bit of snow still showing on north-facing slopes.

Rivers and Streams

From the majesty of the Bald River Falls to small streams in the hollers there was plenty of beauty to see.

Landscapes

This time of year in the Great Smoky Mountains wildflowers are blooming but the trees are not yet fully leaved out. Still there's beauty to see.

Wildflowers

I much enjoy the beauty of wildflowers. Trilliums were common in several varieties and colors. Another striking wildflower was the Dwarf Crested Iris, one of the few iris native to North America.

Coker Creek Falls

Indiana Mike and I planned to return home on Saturday. After the end of the tour on Friday morning we had time to explore. One place we had to track down was Coker Creek Falls a series of 7 falls on Coker Creek. We quickly discovered why it wouldn't be included on a photo tour as both the trail along the creek and access to the creek would be quite rugged for a lot of people. We couldn't really distinguish each falls from all the cascades but we had a great time shooting.

Sunset

Both days and trips come to an end and so I end with sunset. I hope you've enjoyed this bit of nomadacy. Thanks for reading and looking.