Lake Fontana, North Carolina
by Felix Lai
Title
Lake Fontana, North Carolina
Artist
Felix Lai
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
This is a beautiful black and white capture of Lake Fontana in North Carolina.
Fontana Lake is a reservoir impounded by Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River located in Graham and Swain counties in North Carolina. The lake forms part of the southern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the northern border of part of the Nantahala National Forest. Depending on water levels, the lake is about 17 miles (27 km) long. The eastern end is the Tuckasegee River near Bryson City. It has an average depth of 135 feet (41 m) and reaches a maximum depth of 440 feet (130 m), making it the deepest lake in North Carolina The lake has many inlets into coves and many islands formed from former mountain peaks, especially near the eastern end. As with most dam-impounded lakes, the steep banks are exposed when water levels are low. Many towns were submerged shortly after the creation of Fontana Lake, such as Proctor and Judson.
Short of a multi-day hike, Fontana Lake provides the only access into the most remote areas of the National Park. When the lake is at the normal summer level, a boat may be used to access remote trailheads such as Hazel Creek. From the observation tower on Clingmans Dome, on a clear day the lake can be seen nearly a mile below. While the maximum controlled elevation of the lake (top of dam gates) is 1,710 ft (520 m), the normal Summer surface elevation is 1,703 ft (519 m). NC 28 roughly parallels the southern shore of the lake and US 19 between Bryson City and Wesser/Lauada briefly skims an inlet at the extreme southeastern edge.
* Copyright Felix Lai. Watermark will not appear on final prints of the photograph.
Uploaded
April 6th, 2018
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Viewed 1,283 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/23/2024 at 8:53 AM
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Comments (22)
Skip Willits
Well done Felix, last time I saw that lake there was hardly any water in it. Nicely done.
Laurie Search
This is so gorgeous, Felix!!! Fantastic composition, clouds, tones, and reflections!!! :)))vf
Allan Van Gasbeck
Congratulations! Your outstanding artwork has been chosen as a FEATURE in the “The Gray Scale Outdoors” group on Fine Art America — You are invited to post your featured image to the featured image discussion thread as a permanent place to continue to get exposure even after the image is no longer on the Home Page.