The Photo Bin - May 2013

Sad to say, not much went on, photographically, last month. Weeks of wet weather conspired to keep the cameras tucked away, though I did manage to find myself in the Appalachians a couple of times, breaking the meteorological monotony. Here, then, are a handful of shots that came from those much-neeed escapes.

Above, may I introduce, The Usual Suspects - a group of great neighbors and fabulous friends that fill our lives in so many wild and wonderful ways. We took the 'hood on the road for a long weekend of camping and hiking around Hot Springs, NC. Not much fishin' went on, I'm afraid, as the waterways were high and dirty from mid-week downpours. Instead, we traded that time for a handful of communal dips in the open-air hot tubs along the French Broad River at the Hot Springs Resort and Spa. (I'll spare you those images.) This group shot was taken upon our descent of Max Patch, an enchanting bald that provides a 360˚ panorama of the surrounding foothills. A fine place to take an afternoon nap.

Below, Mary enjoys the view from said bald.

A week later, I slipped away to the Tennessee Smokies to fish with my buddies Marc and Steve. More wet weather. Beautiful, but wet. And this time, in the absence of hot tubs, we fished anyway.

Steve, here, in a contemplative mood. I'd wager he was thinking one of three things.

1. Are they sitting in that center seam or tucked under the overhanging bushes?
2. Did I leave the scotch flask and cigar in the truck, or back at the hotel?
3. Why not test the fix on production data instead of that crap sandbox DB? Who can I call and yell at?

Hint: Thank God there's no cell service in the GSMNP.

And finally, it occurs to me that I don't show enough fish pictures on this "fishing blog." Here, then, is the best trout of the weekend.

Well, almost.