Early Afternoon

The only problem with the mountains is how early the afternoon sun vanishes behind the ridge. The Nantahala gets its name from a Cherokee word for "land of the noon-day sun," or as it is more popularly translated, "the land where the sun sets at noon." 

This is from a roadside stand near the forks of the French Broad River, where there's a nice taproom and occasionally a good food truck called Mama Bear's (although she's going offline for the winter starting tomorrow to pursue motherhood rather than food-truckery). It may be technically in the Pisgah Ranger district rather than one of the Nantahala ones, as the border between those is right about here. The road that runs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway from this spot also serves as the border between the Middle Prong Wilderness and the Shining Rock Wilderness.