Where the rain follows the forest in North Carolina.

Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina

The forested valleys of the Blue Ridge mountains are dense and deep reservoirs of beauty. Dappled light and golden butterflies dance in the dark shadows of the gorge. Thunderous rapids whip around glistening boulders. Even the soil sparkles in the Cherokee's “Great Blue Hills of God." It's a place far from home. Still, even here I hear the echo of my ancestors. “Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula`au. The rain follows after the forest." — `Olelo No`eau, Mary Kawena Pukui