Just beyond Mile Marker (MM) 469, at the very end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, growing on the banks of the fully integrated Oconaluftee River on River Right at the confluence of Raven Fork with the other already joined forks of the great stream, a many-yeared sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) has watched travelers of all kinds come and go. Likewise, for many years I have watched as the venerable old tree has leaned into its place in the mountains with grace and determination. Yesterday, for the first time in all of those years, Bonnie and I stopped to pay it homage with our cameras.

A focal length of 100mm from about fifty yards away gave me the angle-of-view I wanted, from the first division of the manifold trunks, well into the great crown, and with sufficient width to take in nearly all of the span of the great limbs. An aperture of f/8, focused on the middle division of trunks, gave me depth-of-field and allowed the colorful background foliage to go a bit soft. A shutter speed of 1.0 second at ISO 100 gave me an overall medium exposure.

This old “ghost tree” has seen much in its sojourn on the river. I honor its life now and through the seasons yet to come.