recreate Archives - Page 24 of 36 - Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy

Listening to the Land: With Rapture and Astonishment Photography Reception

Photos from the Bartram Trail are on display in the library this winter; tonight we’ll celebrate and learn more about their work.

Listening to the Land: is a nine-month community celebration of the Bartram Trail, launching with the project-shaping photography exhibition With Rapture & Astonishment that highlights how eleven photographers inspired by William Bartram reimagined the landscape he encountered. A series of workshops, nature walks, and dynamic online conversations will follow, inviting photographers of all levels to join us in creating a community archive of the Bartram Trail that celebrates this region’s rich biodiversity while honoring each person’s unique way of seeing and responding to the land.

Please bring your friends and family, and join some of the photographers who’ve been taking a closer look at William Bartram’s Trail, and learn how you can get involved with the months-long project!

Listening to the Land : Contemplative Photography Awe Walk

Many of us yearn to create photographs full of feeling and emotion. Contemplative photography offers us a path. By learning to listen to the land and centering our practice in humility and wonder, we deepen our connection with the natural world and our photographs come alive with meaning and beauty.

This one-hour awe walk* will introduce you to simple contemplative photography practices. Starting at the Macon County Library, together we will take a leisurely photography walk on the Little Tennessee River Greenway. Photographers of all levels are invited (camera phones are welcome) and even seasoned practitioners should find value in this unique approach to the medium.

*An Awe Walk is a walk within a place of meaning and beauty to encounter something that amazes and transcends, whether big or small.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer and contemplative artist. Her photography and public installations feature intimate images that touch deeply into questions of place, belonging, and ecological personhood. Since 2016, her work has primarily explored the power of beauty and its impact on our feelings of connection and kinship. Through the use of handmade cameras built in response to the land, she engages in deep conversation with wild and natural places. Susan lives in the southern Appalachian region, where she is the director of the Kinship Photography Collective.

February 21st, 2023: The Forest That Was – A Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Hike

UPDATED 2/10: RSVP for this event is now closed. Thank you all for your enthusiastic interest in this hike! We’ll do more of these in the future.

We’ve been wanting to mix things up a bit and this one still resonates with our inner-Bartram, as this is a special place in Western North Carolina, representing what the forests here would have looked like to William as he explored the area. He may have even made it to this area had it not been for his encounter with Attakullakulla while in the Nantahala River area.

The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is almost 4,000 acres of old growth forest, and this short two mile loop hike takes visitors through some of its most spectacular specimens. We’ll spend some time on winter tree identification and on the natural and cultural history of the area.

We’ll plan on meeting up at the Conservancy office at Cowee School at 9:00 am and carpooling to Joyce Kilmer. We’ll enjoy a slower pace and discussion about this wonderful old growth forest. Some may want to linger in the area afterwards, but we’ll aim to get folks back to their cars in Cowee by 5pm.

Bring lunch, water, hiking shoes, sense of humor and wonder.

February 9, 2023 Walking With Bartram – Section 4 (2): Wilson Gap to Hale Ridge Road

UPDATED 2/6: This hike is now full, RSVPs closed.

This is a second opportunity to joins us for Section 4 of the Walking With Bartram hiking series. In an effort to make these hikes more enjoyable and accessible to everyone that is interested, we’re offering a second date to join us. We’ll try to limit these hikes to 10 folks to allow everyone better interactions and make shuttling between trailheads a little easier.

If you’ve already signed up for the January 27th Walking with Bartram, you can change your RSVP to this one, just let us know if you do. You can email us directly at info@blueridgebartram.org.

Join us for section 4 in North Georgia from Wilson Gap to Hale Ridge Road, right at the North Carolina border. This is the final section in North Georgia before heading into the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. This section is 9.2 miles in length and we’ll start climbing a little more to enjoy the views Rabun Bald.

We’ll meet at 9:00 am at the Hale Ridge Road trailhead to organize our shuttle cars to the start point. Both trailheads are a little tight with rougher roads leading to them. But, we did alright with shuttling cars to Wilson Gap in December, so we’ll be ok. If you do have a higher-clearance vehicle and can car-pool, that would be very helpful.

More details to follow closer to this date once we have all our RSVPs in.

Newcomers are welcome to join us. All you need to bring is water, lunch, clothing appropriate for this season, and your sense of humor and wonder.

We have had great interest in these hikes and are working to create new hiking opportunities. If you are interested in leading a hike, let us know!

recreate

Explore more