The clouds take over

the mountains, and seep down into the valley.

Swannanoa Valley is the main eastern approach to Asheville, coming from Marion and Old Fort then through Black Mountain.  When you pass over the continental divide, then this is the beginning of the watershed going to the Gulf of Mexico.  This rain has a long way to go.

One little off-shoot of the Swannanoa Valley is maybe called the greybeard approach, or just Montreat.  There's a college campus squeezed in between the flanks of the mountains. Vacation homes perch up on the sides of the slopes, streets wind in switchbacks to reach them.  And when cold weather comes in, it comes down from the north where Mt. Mitchell sits, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

 Before much rain falls, I stopped and captured the pristine beauty of the stream before it tumbles into Montreat proper.

 It quickly goes under a culvert, then heads down the mountain to Lake Susan...quickly moving!

 Montreat College dorms reflect the grey light of today's sky. A lone crow was the only sign of life.

 When spring and summer come, and even autumn, these walks and benches will be filled with people enjoying the little lake.

 But today (Sunday) it's deserted.

 The building with Ten Thousand Villages, an import store, has lights on inside. I wonder if they are open.

Look high above the store and you can see one of the houses built up on the slopes.

I was mainly looking at how the clouds caught on the tops of the mountains and seemed to be snagged there, as if they were in a stream and caught in an eddy.