Southern Appalachia

These are photos, drawings and writings of my forays into the wilderness of Southern Appalachia, usually with friends or family. These adventures are great inspiration for landscape design and the media here shows the "spirit of place" that is a core value to my design work. -Blake West

Wilderness Shelter

The fireplace wants a fire! This is one of many wilderness shelters on public land where anybody can camp and experience the natural setting. This shelter is named after Horace Kephart who promoted the woodlands lifestyle and the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Valley clouds

A glacier of clouds, moving slowly along and above the Tuckaseegee river in the morning, on the way to the Great Smoky Mountains

Creekside Bouldering

I climb for fun, and the activity instills a love for stone so much so that my hands tingle when I see or touch a good boulder. In climbing lingo, Thomas Threlkeld is topping out an onsite attempt at a boulder problem we named "Big Easy" and graded V1. If there was a vote, Id say this is one of the top ten most sculptural boulder problems in Western NC.

Sketch from a fir forest

I've explored far and wide and this here is my favorite spot for a nap. The fir forest produces the fragrance of Christmas, some deep shade, a soft bed of needles and when I wake up, I am greeted with this view.

Three oak leaves

After reading "The Nature of Oaks" by Doug Tallamy, I'm convinced that oaks are the most amazing tree in the Southeast. Oak trees support over 600 lepidopteran species (moths and butterflies) whereas the next best supporter (the White Pine) comes in around 140. Oaks are no doubt the most ecologically powerful tree in the Southeast. I drew these three leaves I found on a short walk from my house and I like the personality each one shows.

Path to the highlands

This photo exemplifies natural "design" where the theory of landscape architecture is discovered in the natural setting. Hay scented fern is perfectly in mass, sedges flank the path and specimen hawthorns form an arching canopy.

Cold pools of water

The Southern Appalachians have long been a place of restoration and healing. Travelers would come here to escape the heat or recover from stress and often go for a cold soak in our cold, clear creeks. Modern science is proving the ways that cold water soaks provide therapeutic value. Here, Bill West practices breathing techniques and imagines creating a similar natural cold pool on his land.

New River Gorge

Often, spirit of place is focused on local materials, but here is something that contributes to that spirit but is made from foreign materials. This bridge (and similar industrial feats) connects place with time, people and progress; it is a monument to the ingenuity and power of engineering in the twentieth century.

Half Dome Sunset

My friend Jackson Hughes (pictured) is one of the backcountry wilderness rangers in Yosemite and I was lucky enough to accompany him on a ten day trip through the park. Jackson is an excellent musician and you can listen to his his recent album "Moving Water" on Spotify.

Check out that masonry work on Half Dome! those are some tight joints