gghiker's photostream  

Can't wait to see my paradise again...with close of shots of gators this time!

Somewhere in the middle of North Carolina, going home from my weekend at Holden Beach on US74. I always meant to do something with this, I promise I wouldn't have kept it that long; but every shot from that weekend was so glorious, it kind of got lost.

It's called Pageland Granite. An aggregate of pegmatite, basically a jumble of smaller igneous rocks compressed into a granite. A very coarse rock; if you slid down this stuff, it would peel the skin off of you for sure. These are small, there are other boulders nearby as large as a small house.

I just love hiking around boulders, it gives you a sense of the age of a place, and a deeper connection to the world to see something so old and eternal all around. Millions of years, just awe inspiring.

Forty Acre rock, at the end of the treeline. I guess as things continue to erode, these trees will be gone in another lifetime from now.

I bought the 55-300 specifically with wildlife in mind. I'm going back to Bull Island in March (You can search my photos, it's a paradise) and some other places around the coast (maybe the Audubon Biedler Forest, haven't made up my mind) and while landscape does great, the real draw is the local wildlife.

Now, I know this isn't a great, or even a good shot. I had to overexpose the heck out of it to get something besides "shadow bird" Shot facing the direction of the setting sun, everything is just light and shadows. A granite dome isn't a great place for birdwatching, but I heard the flapping through the bordering trees and took my best shot. I just felt so happy to be finally getting a close-up shot of a bird in the trees for the first time!