Directions in the Forest

This photo was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Tropical Firetower

Bulls Island sits in the middle of the 66,000-acre Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. This firetower sits in the middle of the otherwise near-deserted island.

This photo was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Film — The Emerald Outback of Oz

I have entered this film in the 2017 Triple Aught Design Film Festival. I get nearly all of my outdoor gear from Triple Aught Design so I'm honored that they have accepted my entry. 

Please help support my entry by voting for my short film at Triple Aught Design. It takes five seconds.

Click here to vote now (and often!). You don't even need to register!

Want the backstory on the film? Here you go!

At 5,506 feet, Beech Mountain is the highest town east of the Rockies. The group of hiking trails near the peak of the mountain are named the "Emerald Outback." They are named in honor of the former Land of Oz theme park that flourished nearby before a series of disasters forced the park to shut down in 1980. The Emerald Outback is known for large stands of beech trees and wildlife around every corner. Within five minutes on the trails, you'll see evidence of deer, bear and coyote and you're likely to run into at least one of them if you spend a few hours on the mountain. Join me on an adventure to the top!

This film was created a DJI Mavic Pro drone, a DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone, a Sony a6300 and a GoPro Hero 4+ Black.

Dark-Eyed Junko

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300. 

Hike Through the Clouds

This photograph was captured with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.

A River Runs Through It

We took a new hiking path on Beech Mountain last week and ended up on a very muddy, somewhat difficult path that ran alongside a creek that was pretty much a continuous waterfall for hundreds of yards (probably more but we had to turn around with no end in sight). We're going to have to push further next time to see if we can find the end of it. It probably feeds into the Elk River at some point way down the mountain. 

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.

Falls Creek

The Falls Trail hiking trail follows Falls Creek around the Buckeye Recreation Center on Beech Mountain. It's a one-mile, family-friendly hiking trail with a lot of interesting sights along the way. If you'd like to hike the Falls Trail — or the more difficult trails of the Emerald Outback — this summer, check out our mountain chalet, Slopeside.

This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.