Devoted to the trails and towns of Western North Carolina, a writer makes an autumn pilgrimage and finds communities profoundly changed and profoundly the same.

Helene devastated towns in western North Carolina. Three weeks later, dozens of people are missing and thousands are without power. Volunteers, donations and search and rescue teams have poured in.

Swannanoa business owners are making progress cleaning up after western North Carolina was devastated by Helene. “We are not OK … There is progress. We are

More than 70 search and rescue teams from across the country were dispatched along rivers and streams in western North Carolina. Locals helped guide searchers up the treacherous mountain terrain to look for survivors. In the week after the storm, hundreds of people were reported missing. Dozens are still missing.

Tony Garrison died trying to save a dozen people during Helene, 10 of them his family members. Buncombe County first responders lined up along Charlotte Highway, comparing notes on relief efforts and remembering a loveable, funny, selfless firefighter.