Every couple weeks or so during the green seasons I travel up to milepost 413 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Friends of the BRP has a volunteer program called Adopt-an-Overlook that I have participated in for six years. I am responsible for keeping Pounding Mill Overlook clean and green, trash free, and desirable for the tourists. Saturday, August 13, 2016 was one of those days.

I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to participate in this program, and I believe it has paid off in ways other than simply clean overlooks on the Parkway. Since I began picking up trash at Pounding Mill in 2011, I have noticed that there is less and less litter as time goes by. I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but it seems when visitors see how clean the overlooks are, they do their part to keep it that way by not throwing out trash. People seem to take pride in our beautiful public lands and wild places.

Usually when I go up there I combine it with a hike nearby. My plan on this day was to hike the Art Loeb Trail across Black Balsam and Tennent Mountains to compile some photographic memories. Sometimes plans just don’t work out though. Elevations above about 5,500 feet were completely obscured in a massive fog bank. I went about half way up the Black Balsam summit, couldn’t see more than 20 feet, so I turned around. I would look for more photo opportunities below the clouds. Following are the results. Please feel free to leave your comments below the gallery.

This post was created by Jeff Clark. Please feel free to use the sharing icons below, or add your thoughts to the comments. Pack it in, pack it out. Preserve the past. Respect other hikers. Let nature prevail. Leave no trace.