International Mountain Day was established to highlight the important part that mountains play in our ecosystem and world. For me it is more personal. Some people prefer the beach, I love being in the mountains. Particularly the Appalachian chain in the eastern US . I’ve been to several regions in the Rocky Mountains and it is majestic, but I prefer the Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains so much more. I feel more at home there.

My love of those mountains started when I did a couple of summer stock seasons at the Highlands Playhouse in the far west of North Carolina as a young man. The clean cool air, the scenic waterfalls, the winding roads and most especially the people I found there. Many wonderful memories of terrific people I remember fondly still today. While I did ride those roads in my motorcycle last summer I did not have nearly enough time to spend with the people. Can’t wait to spend more time in the future in my Mountains.

As always you can find more at www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes