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imageMorning light on the Appalachian Trail across the Roan Mountain Balds

Morning light on the Appalachian Trail across the Roan Mountain Balds

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This is a photo taken at sunrise from the Appalachian Trail where it crosses the Roan Mountain Balds. The sunrise casts a pink glow on the grass of the rolling hills. The Appalachian Trail is a hiking trail that extends from Maine all the way to Georgia, cutting across hills and mountains almost all of the way.

Roan Mountain straddles the border of North Carolina and Tennessee. The balds are mountaintop areas naturally devoid of trees, which are generally covered in a thick, soft carpet of wildflowers and knee-high grasses. Roan Mountain is renowned for its lush growths of rhododendron.