We spent the last day and half of the workshop driving in the backroads and visiting more scenic areas in North Carolina.  

Andy had been thinking of taking us to Roan Mountain to see the sunrise which would have meant a very early morning since Roan is located on the Tennesse/North Carolina border.  However, it was decided that since the early morning colours and layers of fog were not great this year we would sleep in a little and go local.  This was a view of one of the mountains close by-it was very foggy and looked more interesting than how the photo actually turned out.  

This photo was taken from Chimney View which I thought  gave the best views of the lower falls. Linville Falls is probably the most photographed waterfall in North Carolina.  It is located on the Parkway about 66 miles north of Asheville.  We had to do some hiking to get to the falls.   Linville Falls drops about 90 feet into the 12-mile long Linville Gorge.  Erwins View Trail is a moderate hike of 1.6 miles round trip with four different overlooks.  I hiked most of the trail twice with my heavy equipment and tripod.   

This photo of the upper falls was taken from Chimney View which I thought  gave the best views.  You can see Andy and the group in the foreground- just look for the tripod.  

A close up view of the water with an artistic touch (well as much as I can be artistic).

This was the view looking at the river,  opposite to  the waterfalls.

Erwins View Trail ends at Erwins View Overlook.   The elevation was 3330 feet, the highest point of the hike.  There was a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and ridges from here.  You could also see the falls from here but the view of the mountains was better.  While I was admiring the views, I met a woman from Asheville, Tn who loved to hike while her husband loved to photograph (not so much hike).   He was still at the upper falls photographing so she hiked on her own.  

After leaving the falls we stopped to take pictures of this very friendly horse grazing.  He came right up to the fence hoping for a treat. 

Although it was getting to be the worse time of day for photographing we couldn't resist stopping to take photos of the beautiful landscape.

Later on in the afternoon we went looking for photo opportunities.   We came across this pretty area with a beautiful working barn.  Andy spent some time talking to an elderly  woman who had owned a lot of the surrounding farm land for generations.  Apparently a wicked wind storm had come through the area earlier and swept a lot of the leave away.  The woman talked about growing up and living in the area with her family.  

Next stop was an abandoned barn  on a backroad.  I wonder if Andy could ever find it again?  I know I wouldn't have a clue where it was but I loved how the shot turned out.  

A close up view.  There were such beautiful colours all around.

We found this old  church on the road.

On a different backroad we came across another abandoned barn with some great surrounding colours.

A close up of the barn with some artistic touches.  

On our final day of the workshop we started the day early.  We were headed back to Charlotte for our flights out in the afternoon or next day.    You can see some fog between the ridges.  

Not great colour this morning.

On the way back to Charlotte we stopped off at another scenic spot.

One last scenic shot of the trip.

There were some old rusted cars on the side of the highway on the way back to Charlotte so we stopped for some final shots before heading to the airport.