The hu-dad, like much of the rest of the “Apple is so Superior to Microsoft” world owns an iPhone.  And a friend told him about DerManDar, an ap that let’s you take panoramic pictures with your phone.  So, while we were wanting to go romping in what little snow we actually have, we had to stand patiently and wait for him to play with his phone.  Ok, actually, we tried to weave the leashes tight around his legs as he tried to hold his phone steady, but after twenty-eleven bazillion attempts, he actually got a couple of pictures to work.

So, now, his goal was to upload the pictures and embed them on the blog.  You should be able to use the arrows to scan the panorama.

Picture 1 – our field.  Hu-dad scanned looking over at Cataloochee Ski and then passing our favorite tree and then finally the long range view.  You can’t see us because we are all wrapped around his legs. (UPDATE – And after making fun of Microsoft, we realized that DerManDar uses Flash to embed the picture – which means products like the iPad can not see the picture. If you do not see a picture, please click here.)

Picture 2 – a view from Thunder Struck Ridge. Our section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed this time of year, so it is one of our favorite winter spots to walk.  Once again, you can’t see us because we are all wrapped his legs as he takes the picture.  (Ditto – Can’t see the picture, go here)

Notice that there are no panoramic pictures of us.  Apparently the program works best on objects that stay still.  We do not qualify.

Do let us know if this works for you (or if it does not, what device you are using to view the post). If this works well, we have a few spots that we want to do 360 degree panoramas

A view from Cataloochee Ranch. We are ready to go hiking in these hills this weekend.

Going . . .

Going . . .

Gone.

Friday evening was one of the beautiful, clear, cold mountain evening.

We could only stand in our field in awe of the view.

Those slopes will have skiers on them again tomorrow, but tonight it is quiet and peaceful.

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Our favorite tree has lost its leaves.

Fall mornings give us crisp, cold, clear skies to see for miles.

In less than two months, this hill will be covered in snow and skiers.

Check out how our favorite tree is already developing bright red leaves.

With our cold nights, red leaves can be seen all over our mountains.

And not just red - yellow leaves.

But there are also plenty of blooms remaining in our fall.

So fun to hike and see all of the colors.

The pleasures of hikes in our woods.

Colors of all shades.

Hope you enjoy the colors too.

The ski resort is installing a new chair lift in anticipation of a new ski season (only 3-4 months away, believe it or not) while the horses above enjoy the summer grasses.

The view standing underneath our favorite tree.

One of our favorite vantage points on our nightly walk around the "neighborhood."

You can tell it is a nice evening, because all of the "neighbors" are out.

Including one of our favorites.

The sun setting on another week. Have a terrific weekend!

Kodiak here. While everyone's back is turned, I thought I would take you a quick Friday Foto tour.

Our neighbor, Cataloochee Ski, is using the quiet summer months to install a new chairlift.

Everything in our field is lush and green from the summer rains.

Looks like another great weekend on the horizon.

What is a little water running on our trail?

As our faithful readers know, only really extreme weather interferes with our hikes.  So a recent rainstorm and high humidity did not prevent us from ascending Waterrock Knob on Saturday.  The Knob, at 6292 feet (1918 meters), is one of 40 peaks in North Carolina that are greater than 6,000 feet.

Maggie Valley as seen from near the peak of Waterrock Knob.

We really like this hike because there is a view over our town, Maggie Valley.  If you look carefully in the next picture, just to the right of the second hemlock tree (click on the picture to enlarge it), you will see a straight cut up a mountain.  That is the chairlift at Ghost Town in the Sky.  We live just a little further up and to the left of Ghost Town (basically, behind that hemlock).

Another view of Maggie Valley with two dead hemlock trees near the peak of Waterrock Knob.

We get asked all of the time about the dead or dying hemlock trees that can be seen all over our mountains.  They are under attack from the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.  You can read a great article about them from the National Park Service here.

Natasha cools off by roaching in some wet grass.

And then we marched shoulder to shoulder back down the mountain to the parking lot.

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We posted the link to this story on our Facebook Page yesterday, but wanted to make sure everyone saw it.  Happy Retirement to Rusty Bradley, the Park Superintendent of Mount Mitchell State Park.  Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River and is known for its “fun” winter weather – some of which is detailed in the article.