50 by 50
High Shoals Falls in South Mountains State Park, North Carolina
50 by 50 has a nice ring to it. I remember hearing awhile back this phrase and it has stuck with me. 50 US states by 50 years old. I started to spend time thinking of how many I had been to and how many I would need to get to. At this time I am 42 years old so I only have 8 more years till my 50th.
This past valentines day (I am a little slow getting to the pictures) I wanted to take a trip and decided not to repeat a state I have been to numerous times. Flights to Charlotte North Carolina were only $40 each way on Southwest Airlines plus I had plenty of points making the flights free. NC was my 22nd state getting me closer towards my goal. This image is of High Shoals Falls inside South Mountains State Park just outside of Charlotte. What an adventure just getting to the park. Google maps took us in a weird route through long neighborhoods getting to see much of the country side. The hike was pretty easy and very beautiful. Weather was chilly but no snow, we did get some rain during the hike but stayed mostly dry. I shot this on a GoPro Hero 9 using a ND32 Filter to get the blur in the water. Then edited using techniques in Lightroom
On a side note, state parks are free in NC, how amazing is that. The park was empty, we only ran across 5 or 6 other people the whole time on the trail
Before the end of 2021 I plan on adding at least one more new state
