The Roan Highlands 2025Summer | Southern Appalachian Mountains | North Carolina + TennesseeFrom the journal: June 27, 2025 (travel day)I love thunderstorms. They remind me of fireworks. Not the aesthetic parts, but all the feeling parts. The intensity. ...
Hiding Among Tall Grasses Gray's Lilies are globally rare wildflowers growing within critically imperiled habitat. I travel to the grassy balds of the Roan Highlands to visit the largest known population of these wonderful Southern Appalachian wildflowers. Late...
Becoming a full-time landscape photographer was a real thought at this point in my life (2014). It was risky for me. I had invested heavily--both time and finances--in my degrees and work experience within the construction industry. Cutting the cord was going to be...
I'm very pleased to have another opportunity with Our State Magazine this month, June 2016. This is my third month in a row of working with the magazine and I couldn't be more pleased with all of the stories and their collective geographic reach: April a photograph...
Publication: Photography Masterclass Magazine Issue: November 2015 (Issue #35) I'm really pleased to find my photograph of the annual wild Catawba Rhododendron bloom atop a grassy meadow in the Roan Highlands of the Southern Appalachians as an Editor's Choice in...
The grasses I travel through are far taller than the mid-height of my hiking boots allowing the moisture to wick down through my socks. My feet are soaking despite the Gore-Tex lining within my boots. It's just after sunrise on the temperate grassy balds of the Roan...
Publication: Outdoor Photographer Issue: April 2015, Wildlife Special, Volume 31, Number 3 Story: Favorite Places, Grassy Ridge Bald (p.34) I had the opportunity to contribute an article and photograph for the monthly column, favorite places, appearing in the...
Magazine: Ourdoor Photographer Issue: July 2014, Max Megapixels, Volume 30, Number 6 Story: Assignments, Motivation Assignment Winner (p.42) While tradition would say that you should fake it until you make it, I was rather excited and surprised when an editor at...
Magazine - Backpacker: The Outdoors at Your Doorstep Issue: June 2014, 2014 National Parks Guide, Volume 42, Issue 313, Number 5 Story: The Experience: More is Better. Long Distance Hiking by Casey Lyons (p.012) It was barely a thought when I started doing this...
Stand Up That Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness along the Appalachian Trail Jay Erskine Leutze | Simon & Schuster, 2012 Stand Up That Mountain, written by Jay Leutze, is about the legal battle to stop a gravel mine, known...