Nature's Palette

Abrams Creek Serenity

Abrams Creek Waterfall

Abrams Creek Fall Foilage

Abrams Creek Smoky Mountains

Abrams Creek in Cades Cove was beautiful with the yellow and orange trees hanging over and along side the roaring rapids.  Snow had just started to fall and rest on the upper tree limbs.

Appalachian Foothills North Georgia





Traveling across North Georgia on the Appalachian Foothills Parkway

Little River Road Smoky Mountains

Little River Road is a scenic drive to Cades Cove Loop Road.

Cade Coves Loop

A Smoky Mountain Winter Wonderland

Smoky Mountains Early Snowfall

It was cold, windy, raining and then the snow started falling.  It was a beautiful scene with snow on the treetops falling on colorful leaves.  Fall meets Winter Wonderland.

Shoshone National Forest

  The Chief Joseph Scenic Highway runs through the Shoshone National Forest. 

The scenic drive offers spectacular scenery! The National Forest was set aside in 1891 as part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, making the Shoshone the first national forest in the United States. It consists of some 2.4 million acres  from the Montana state line south to Lander, Wyoming, and includes portions of the Absaroka, Wind River, and Beartooth Mountains.

Beartooth Front Scenic Drive

One of the main reasons for a vacation in Montana was the Beartooth Mountains and Chief Joseph Scenic Byway in Wyoming.

Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range

Within the Wild Horse Range, we saw a lot of Big Horn Sheep but only one horse far in the distance.  I read that some of the wild horses live in the desert lowlands of the range, and many of these can be seen along Highway 37 in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. We drove Highway 37 for that specific purpose of searching for the wild horses.  Because of the landscape and behavior of these horses, it is often difficult to find them. Highway 37 is a well maintained, paved highway that was easy for driving.   Big Horn Canyon Recreation Area is so large it spreads from Montana to Wyoming.   The Wild Horse Range is located in the Montana side of the park.

The Lonely Tree at Devil's Canyon

I always like taking pictures of lone trees against vast backgrounds and wide open spaces.  It's leaves and broken branches show the harsh weather conditions it had to endure.  I named this the "Lonely Tree" among the rocks and prairie bush.

Devil's Canyon Overlook