Visit 2 to Big Meadows Lodge 2023

We enjoyed our time at Big Meadows so much we visited again in June. We have tended to be campers and enjoy nature in that way, but we're old enough to appreciate a little less struggle and a little more comfort. The lodge and other buildings are the picture of quiet with an opportunity to mingle as well. Some rooms are modern and offer internet and AC. Others are rooms that are original to the founding of the park except they don't practice segregation as much. The constant blaring of white music was a bit annoying but the segregation was otherwise less apparent

We arrived late Friday night in rain and fog using GPS navigation which took us to an impassable fire road. Sunday the fog was back in the morning

Lodge

The lodge buildings and associated sleeping quarters was an interesting mix of history and nature.

There were some beautiful earth colored quilts on the beds. The muted colors and interesting curvelinear patterns was very creative

This is my personal guide for the last 24 years. She is a fierce mama bear who won't let other bears in our territory. Advice to other bears: Do Not Get Too Close

Photography and the light that makes it pop were fantastic this weekend. We had fog on the mountain and haze from Canadian wildfires that both made the views interesting and the sunsets dramatic. I also enjoyed our hikes along the Appalachian trail. We found a couple of trails that were reasonably flat. There were also interesting trees, bark and lichen. The trees really showed out. Some were battered by the wind. Some were gnarled by disease or the extreme elements.

This photography was less exposed so it tended to be dark. It was a challenge to get some of the dramatic clouds from the Canadian wildfires and fog to show. The changes from dark to light were subtle. It was easy to lose some of the important detail. The darkness in the forest still had rich colors and beautiful highlights. I was able to get a lot of interesting images.