“Late one May, I hiked the Appalachian Trail with my English Setter — Abbey, the wonder dog. We were about 15 miles north of Hot Springs, NC. From early morning until late afternoon we had been slowly conquering a seven mile stretch of the trail, which was almost entirely uphill. When we finally arrived at the top of the mountain we were rewarded with a beautiful field of shade, ferns and flowers. It lasted for about 100 yards. This was the only place in thirty miles where I would see this type of foliage.”  — Larry Smith