![\"sunrise\"](\"http:\/\/rattreks.com\/site_pics99\/3421.jpg\")
<\/a>Sunrise. The sun is coming up on the far left side of Roan Mountain.<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>Night hiking to the tower we could see the first trace of light as we topped the ridge. The bright red light is one of the towers on the other end of Buffalo mtn.<\/p><\/div>\n
There was a stiff and very cold breeze blowing once at the top of the tower so we had to add some layers as we waited on the main event to unfold. We could see the lights in the valleys below us and although I could not capture any good images of it, seeing it in person is always nice. Once the sunlight made its appearance we could see frost on the open fields and the smoke from many fireplaces as most of the world was still fast asleep while we were looking down on them from above. We got what pics we could until it got too bright then we packed up and headed back down the mountain.<\/p>\n
<\/a>First light seen once up in the tower (taken with my pocket cam) You can see the tower lights (left) on the end of the Buffalo mtn chain and the lights of Elizabethton just to the right of those with Holston mtn being the high point just above them.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>First pic taken with my larger cam of the first light breaking over the horizon<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Looking down at the lights of the Unicoi Valley as it stretches out all the way to Erwin.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Valley lights (pocket cam)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Zoomed shot of an odd cloud phenomena over Unaka Mountain. Not sure if this was smoke or clouds.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Zooming closer in on the strange swirling cloud formation as it was very interesting to me !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Unaka Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Looking slightly left of Unaka at the many mountains that await the warmth of the sun<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>trying to capture the dense mountain fog laying in the valleys<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Breathtaking views as we waited on the suns arrival.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>I was hoping those clouds would make for a great sunrise.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Sometimes there is more magic happening when you look away from the main sunrise.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Valley lights (pocket cam)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The first pink !! Taken with my pocket cam. (something I was unable to capture at all on my larger cam most likely due to the neutral density and polarizer filters ? )<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Decent colors over Holston (pocket cam) Next time I`ll try removing the filters from my larger cam.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Clouds blocking out the sun as it comes up over Roan Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Zooming in. It happens fast then its over !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Finally the main event. I was unable to capture anything better. It was either too dark or too bright !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Roan on the left and Unaka on the right<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The sunrise<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>I wish I had been able to capture it better,,,<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Pocket cam<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Tyler took this picture of me capturing the main event (Photo by Tyler Tarpley)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The views were actually better when looking just to the right of the sunrise area. As it got lighter we could see more of the valley below.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>and then, BAM ! There it was ! Full on sun. My larger camera only has a max F stop of 8 so getting a ‘star’ type image is nearly impossible !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>I am sure someone with a nicer camera could have made something much better out of this !<\/p><\/div>\n
Once the sun was up and it got really bright I took some pics of the amazing sweeping views that can be seen from this vantage point. There were still a few patches of Fall colors that the sun was making pop a little so, it was worth taking a few pics before packing up to leave. My fingers were getting numb being out of the gloves in order to operate the cameras so, I did not take many !<\/p>\n
<\/a>Sunshine on the surrounding mountains<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Tower view<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>View looking off the backside of the tower. (North) You can see Bays Mountain being prominent in the distance.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>View looking down the Buffalo Mtn chain with Holston Mtn being in the center<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Here you can see more of the other end of Buffalo mtn and a tiny bit of Johnson City on far left.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Zooming in on some red leaves that are being lit up by the bright sun. You can see the frost on the grassy fields as well.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>While enjoying this view of Buffalo mountain I could not help but recall many memories of dirt bike riding all over that terrain there when i was growing up !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Opposite view looking Westerly at the other end of the Buffalo chain towards Sams Gap (NC) and Greeneville (TN) .<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Killer view over the Unicoi valley. You can see Big and Little Bald and lots of other mountains. The power lines actually look kinda cool for scale in this shot along with the glowing red colors.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The views are great from here !<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Strange graffiti on the tower building<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>More of the odd graffiti on the tower building<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Gnome pose silhouette of a fat rat and pack on the right and a skinny Tyler with hiking stick on the left !!!<\/p><\/div>\n
On the way down we stopped at the memorial site for ‘Ashlie Grace Padgett’ which is on the tree that took her young and beautiful life as she was a passenger in an old Ford pickup truck that hit the tree and overturned trapping her inside. She had just turned 18 and graduated from Unicoi High School so it was a very tragic and sad turn of events. It stands as a strong reminder that the choices we make within a split second can alter so many lives forever. It is very obvious that she was so loved by many and was a very special person. Joy riding on the tower road with a 16 year old driver and another 21 year old passenger where they had gone behind the locked government gates ended with this tragedy on June 10, 2016 just before 5:30 am. She was to start college that very day. It seems they were coming down the steep concrete road from the tower when the brakes failed and the driver could not make the turn going straight instead into the woods and hitting the tree where the truck overturned. Delays in getting help to the remote location did not help an already bad situation. She was helicoptered out but, died a few days later on the same day her grandfather did, both in the same hospital. This was the first time I had been there since this event. We paid our respects before hiking back down to our vehicle.<\/p>\n