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.

Donald Trump isn't taking any chances in battleground North Carolina -- making four stops in the state over two days -- on Tuesday as well as Monday. The polls here are tight. But more than that, the former president's advisers are keenly aware that some of the state's counties hardest hit by flooding from Hurricane Helene are deeply conservative.