Along the spine of North Fork Mountain. This is the east side of the mountain. The west side is a bluff, starting just over the crest here. As nearly as I can tell this location is just east of Champ Rock. This is a really spectacular place, with vistas to the west of the backs of the North Fork foreknobs with its convoluted and illogical topography; the foreknobs of the Allegheny Front beyond that and across the river; and Roaring Plains on top of the Front and towering over the foreknobs. Roaring Plains is probably 1000 feet or more higher than the top of North Fork. It is an exciting place to visit, but difficult to photograph well for a number of reasons.

North Fork Mountain is completely different from the top of the Allegheny Front. Being due east of the Front, North Fork is in the rain shadow of the big mountain. So the vegetation is completely different. No red spruce here. Table mountain pine (Pinus pungens), stunted chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), and occasional white pine (Pinus strobus) populate this ridge. Frequent fires help keep it that way. It is very dry here.

This image was made during my last trip to the Highlands this year, in November of 2015, with fellow photographer Robert Clark.

35-70 Zeiss Vario-Sonnar CY, Sony A7r2, Lr 6, Ps CS6.