The Blue Ridge Mountains region is a 600-mile-long segment of the mighty Appalachian range. Like all Appalachians, these rock formations are far older than the Rockies, their counterpart to the west.

But the Blue Ridge Mountains no longer look as vibrant as they once did. Through pollution, humans have added additional particles into the atmosphere of the region, worsening visibility overall.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are home to at least 150 native tree species. Compare that to Great Britain, which only has less than a quarter of that.

Deep in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, miles from any multilane highway (or any straight road for that matter), through dense forests of Virginia pine and over trickling streams, I ...