Northeastward from Newfound Gap the Appalachian Trail rises around the southeastern face of Mount Ambler, while US 441, Newfound Gap Road, wraps around the western slopes of the mountain before descending into the valley where West Prong of the Little Pigeon forms on its way to the mighty French Broad. High up on Ambler’s lofty western shoulder a small, unnamed creek forms from the many seeps and springs, the children of gravity and precipitation, that the mountain has birthed. Commonly it is merely a trickle; in wet weather it becomes a flow.

Bonnie and I were excited to find ourselves with access to the park recently when a snow event covered the landscape above 4500′. The little creek on Ambler’s brow was as charming as ever.

A focal length of 28mm, squarely in wide-angleland, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted, with the creek bed offset to the right and snowy forest on either flank. An aperture of f/16 provided depth-of-field and with an ISO of 200, gave me a shutter speed of 0.5 second for a considerably lighter-than-medium exposure and for just the appearance of flow in the water that I wanted.

It was a pleasure seeing all of the visitors in the park enjoying the experience of snow. It is my great hope that such enjoyment will translate into a real desire to understand and preserve the common wealth our public lands bestow upon us. May they be here for our children’s children of seven generations and more.