Some trips you plan. Some trips plan you.
This one started as a five-day photography road trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway with my daughter — and turned into one of the most memorable adventures I've taken with my camera. Waterfalls, mountain trails, an abandoned crash site hidden in the trees, live music by a lake, and Asheville in full creative bloom. Here's how it went.
Day 1: Soco Falls & Cherokee, NC
We left Tega Cay early and drove straight to Soco Falls — our first waterfall of the trip and a good sign of what was ahead. The cascading tiers gave me exactly the kind of long-exposure opportunity I live for.
From there we rolled into Cherokee, NC and hit the Oconaluftee River Trail. Mountain laurel in full bloom, river light filtering through the trees, the kind of quiet that makes you slow down and actually look at things. I came away with some of my favorite shots of the whole trip.
We ended the night at Harrah's Cherokee Casino — dinner, a little downtime, and early to bed. Day two was waiting.
Day 2: Sylva, Woodfin Cascade Falls & Mingo Falls
Breakfast at City Lights Café in Sylva — a bookstore café with a resident cat named Cedric who looked like he'd read everything on the shelves twice. We lingered longer than planned.
Then Woodfin Cascade Falls, tucked away and worth every step of the trail to reach it. And after that, Mingo Falls — one of the tallest waterfalls in the southern Appalachians. Standing at the base with the camera, watching that volume of water come down — it's one of those moments where you just stand there for a minute before you even think about shooting.
Day 3: Waterrock Knob, Skinny Dip Falls & Asheville
The day started on the Waterrock Knob trail, which I thought was going to be a straightforward hike with good views. It was — and then it wasn't.
Hidden in the trees off the trail: an abandoned Cessna crash site. Rusted, overgrown, eerily quiet. I don't know what I expected to feel standing there but it wasn't what I felt. Something about a wrecked plane slowly being reclaimed by the forest — it stops you. I photographed it carefully and kept thinking about it for days afterward. If you're hiking Waterrock Knob, keep your eyes open.
From there, Skinny Dip Falls — where we ran into park volunteers working to restore the trail. I spent time on the abstract details here. The textures around a waterfall, the patterns in the rocks, the way water moves around an obstacle — that's where the intimate nature work happens.
We ended the day in Asheville. Broadway Street buzzing with art and music and every kind of creative energy. After three days in the wilderness, the city felt electric. I photographed until dark.
Day 4: Chimney Rock State Park & Lake Lure
Chimney Rock delivered everything I came for — dramatic landscapes, hidden waterfalls, the mysterious bat cave entrance, and delicate goatsbeard flowers blooming against rugged rock faces. The contrast between the delicate and the dramatic is what makes Chimney Rock so endlessly photogenic.
Lunch at Old Rock Café by the Broad River — outdoor patio, forest views, river sounds. The kind of meal that earns its place in the trip journal.
In the afternoon we went to Lake Lure, where I set up by the water and played some classical guitar — Gaspar Sanz's "Canarios." There's something about music outdoors, by a lake, in the middle of a photography trip, that feels exactly right. Nature and art in the same breath.
Day 5: Rutherfordton & Home
The final day took us to Rutherfordton, NC for a performance by the Rutherfordton Chamber Consort. Live chamber music to close out five days of waterfalls and wilderness — it was the right ending. Music, like photography, is just another way of saying: this moment matters.
We drove home to Tega Cay full of images and grateful for every one of them.
