Favorite Trails: Porters Creek

March 9, 2010 Catagories: Favorite Trails
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Trail sign for Porter's Creek

Porters Creek trailhead

Porters Creek Trail is a delightful meander in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Head east out of Gatlinburg on Route 321, then after about 6 miles, the Greenbrier entrance will be on the right. Head up Greenbrier Road, which eventually turns to gravel, passed the bridge to the Ramsay Cascades Trail, straight ahead until the road finally dead-ends at the trailhead parking lot. The trail follows Porters Creek for most of the way, and and you can see from the sign it is one of the many trails leading to the summit of Mt. LeConte.

Porters Creek

Porters Creek

Smoky Mountain Footbridge

Porters Creek Trail footbridge

The first mile of the trail is a well maintained jeep road with an easy walking grade. Along the way are many opportunities to slow you down. Watch to the right for many signs of pioneer homesteads. There are rock walls, chimneys, house foundations, and even a primitive cemetery. These echoes of early settler life in the Smoky Mountains testify to the harsh realities of scraping a life out of rugged and isolated terrain.

Pioneer rock wall

Rock wall remnant from pioneer days

Rock steps

Rock steps from pioneer homestead

Smoky Mountain Cemetery

Smoky Mountain Cemetery

In the April the Porters Creek Trail becomes one of the the best wildflower hikes in the Smokies.

Wildflower Trillium

White Trillium

For a nice two-mile round-trip hike, continue on up the trail and bear to the right when the jeep road enters a turnaround. At this point you can take a short side-trail over to visit a small group of log buildings, including the John Messer barn, which was built around 1875, and the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin, which was constructed from 1934-36.

John Messer Barn

John Messer Barn

Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin

Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin

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The Life of Wood

March 8, 2010 Catagories: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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Log cabin detail

There are many old pioneer cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most of them were constructed from native wood, shaped with hand tools such as the broad ax, froe, adz, and drawknife.

The wood in these buildings seems unique and different, with a life of its own. Or perhaps it is the life of the pioneers that remains within the wood. The example above is a classic dove-tail joint used to stack the log walls and keep them tight. The cabin is one you can see in the Cades Cove area of the Park.

The two images below are from cabins at the Mountain Farm Museum near the Cherokee entrance to the Smokies. Notice the nifty crude hinges made from  horse-shoes on the barn door in the lower right image.

Log barn detail with door Log cabin detail with window



The final two pictures below are from the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin on the Porter’s Creek Trail in the Greenbrier Section of the Park. The first image shows another example of a dovetail joint.

Log cabin wall with dovetail joint

Smoky Mountain Hiking Club log cabin

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Featured Photo: Smoky Mountain Moonrise

March 6, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos
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Moonrise over the Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountain Moonrise

Smoky Mountain Moonrise is the most recent addition to the William Britten Gallery. This picture was taken east of Gatlinburg in the Glades area. It is actually a location that I pass every day because it is on the street where I live. Many of my images of Mt. LeConte are taken from this vantage point.

This was early November with the fall leaves past their peak in the lower elevations, and completely gone from the higher elevations. An early snowfall gave just a dusting to the upper parts of Mt. LeConte. It’s late in the afternoon, with the last rays of sunlight striking the mountain, creating a glow on the leaves. Driving home, I saw this image and quickly grabbed the camera and tripod before the light faded. I took several images, and kept waiting for the clouds to clear out. But what appeared at first to be passing clouds was actually condensation, as the sun-warmed air hit the cold, snowy mountain.

Smoky Mountain Moonrise is offered in all sizes, including the largest 20×30. Details of sizes and pricing can be found on at the bottom of the Gatlinburg Gallery page.

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Gallery: Greenbrier in Winter

March 5, 2010 Catagories: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, photography
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Smoky Mountain creek in winter

Perhaps the last decent snowfall of the winter this week created a winter dreamscape up in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These pictures tell the whole story.

Click on the first one to bring up a larger slide show, then put your mouse over the image to go forward or back.

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Featured Photo: Path to Serenity

March 4, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos
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Smoky Mountain trail

Path to Serenity

Path to Serenity was taken along the trail to Spruce Flat Falls in the Tremont section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Early May is the time the Mountain Laurel bloom at this altitude. The laurel is very similar to the rhododendren that are also prevelent in the Smokies. The rhododendren tend to bloom in June and July.

For me this image has two attractions: the hillside of mountain laurel bloom, and the trail that drifts invitingly into the distance, suggesting even more relaxation and time away from the stresses of everyday life. In short, it represents why you came to the Smokies!

Path to Serenity is offered in all sizes. Details of sizes and pricing can be found on at the bottom of the Gatlinburg Gallery page.

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Driven to Abstraction

March 3, 2010 Catagories: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, photography
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Abstract snow image

Winter abstract in the Smoky Mountains

Another light snowstorm through most of the day yesterday, but not enough to close the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I drove up into the Greenbrier section and found a winter fairyland. So beautiful and dreamlike … I’ll have some more images soon from my roamings, but first a few abstract treatments. The mood of these tall trees along the Ramsay Cascades Trail was like a ghostly cathedral. I was trying to capture the peace and silence, and the white glow around the whole scene. With all those upright tree trunks, I couldn’t resist the temptation to set the up for a long exposure and wave the camera vertically as the picture was taken. It takes a bunch of attempts to get something good, but the idea is with about a one second exposure to hesitate for about half that time and let the scene be captured with some amount of detail, then quickly move the camera up or down to create the dreamy, blurry, ghostly effect. Not a Photoshop trick, all done in the camera!

Here are some more from this series. Click any one to bring up a slide show, then hover your mouse over the image to go forward or back in the series.

Winter fairyland

Smoky Mountains fairyland

Ghostly trees in winter

Ghostly winter trees

Winter abstract

Winter trees abstract

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Smoky Mountain Spirituality

March 2, 2010 Catagories: philosophy
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Snowy footbridge

The picture above is the footbridge leading to the Ramsay Cascades Trail in the Greenbrier section of the Smoky Mountains. Yes, it’s still cold and quiet around here. Another cold, snowy scene from the Greenbrier is below.

But to warm things up on the waning days of winter, there’s a gallery of quotations down below. If the words are hard to read, click on any image, and you should get a full size slide show. (put your mouse over the right or left side of each picture to rotate through the slide show) I’ve tried to set each of the quotations within a supportive image.

Winter bridge

words-of-wisdomwords-of-wisdomwords-of-wisdomwords-of-wisdomwords-of-wisdomwords-of-wisdom

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Favorite Trails: Big Creek to Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls

March 1, 2010 Catagories: Favorite Trails
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Midnight Hole waterfall

Midnight Hole

The Big Creek section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is on the eastern side, with the easiest access being from Interstate 40. Take the Waterville exit (451), which is the last Tennessee exit going east. Proceed through a hydroelectric plant, crossing into North Carolina, through a four-way rural intersection and into the Park. There is a campground and picnic area as well as excellent hiking. The Big Creek area was heavily timbered in the early part of the 20th century, and as a result, the Big Creek trail is a wide berm with an easy grade created to remove the trees with a rail line.

About a mile up the trail you’ll pass a jumble of huge boulders known as Rock House.  Another half mile up the stream is Midnight Hole, which is a petite but picturesque waterfall that flows into a deep green pool that gives the waterfall it’s name. Be careful not to miss the short side-trail that detours over to the bottom of Midnight Hole. It’s an excellent swimming area in summer, and as you can see from the picture, a beautiful spot in the fall. Actually, this is a good hike any time of year.

But don’t stop now!  Another half-mile up Big Creek is a second gem, where Mouse Creek plunges dramatically into Big Creek. This is another great spot in the fall, and the boulders will beckon you to sit down and eat your trail mix, or just meditate on the wonder of it all.

Mouse Creek Falls

Mouse Creek Falls

If you continue on up the trail another several hundred yards, there is a footbridge that crosses Big Creek and another very attractive pool.

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Still Winter in Gatlinburg

February 26, 2010 Catagories: Gatlinburg
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Snowplow in Gatlinburg

Usually by the end of February, winter is losing its grip in our quiet little village on the edge of the Smoky Mountains. But this year we’ve still got the twice-weekly snowstorms, still wearing the triple layers, still the hot chocolate and tea, the howling wind at night, the cats that refuse to venture outdoors … you get the picture. In fact, we seem to be stranded in the Olympic Alternate Universe, staying up till midnight watching triple toe loops, Salchows, axels, and Lutz’s.

Thermometer in winter

As I write this post, I’ve escaped the cabin fever for the confines of my gallery for the day. The tourists are creeping back into the scene … many looking to escape the northern snows … ha!

Winter and snow scene

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Featured Photo: Dogwood Rain

February 26, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos
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Dogwood blooms in the Smoky Mountains

Dogwood Rain

Dogwood Rain is from the Tremont area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is one of my favorite locations. The picture was taken in a light drizzle, umbrella in hand. With the rainy mist hanging over the creek, and the focus on the dogwood branch, the photo has a sense of dimension.

The road to Tremont is a left turn just past the Townsend entrance to the Park, going west towards Cades Cove. After the road turns to gravel, this view presents itself on a sharp curve, with an unobstructed view of the Middle Prong of the Little River. If the dogwoods are in bloom (second and third weeks of April), and the light is good, it’s a simple matter to set up a tripod and take the shot.

Dogwood Rain is offered in all sizes. Details of sizes and pricing can be found on at the bottom of the Gatlinburg Gallery page.

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Lichens in Winter

February 24, 2010 Catagories: Nature

I’ve noticed that lichens seem to come alive in the winter. In the Great Smoky Mountains, lichens are everywhere, on boulders and rocks and trees. Maybe they stand out in winter because they are not competing with the lush green foliage of summer. In any case, wandering the quiet winter trails, the lichens really jump [...]

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Featured Photo: Midnight Hole

February 23, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos

Midnight Hole is a petite waterfall with a twelve-foot deep emerald pool that gives the waterfall its name.  Located in the Deep Creek section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Midnight Hole is a popular swimming hole in the summer.

Midnight Hole is often paired with Creekside Sweet Gum, making an attractive set of vertical [...]

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Featured Photo: Creekside Sweet Gum

February 23, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos

Creekside Sweet Gum is my all-time most popular image, and  is one of the few where I went out in search of a specific composition. In this case it was the autumn leaves highlighted against a backdrop of the flowing creek.
One of my favorite times of the year is late fall, which in the Smoky [...]

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Snow on Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap

February 22, 2010 Catagories: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Still plenty of snow at Newfound Gap. The road from Gatlinburg to the top of the Smoky Mountains has been closed a lot this winter, but it was open on Saturday, February 20th when I took this picture.
Lots of people were up there hiking, frolicking, and sliding around with their children.
I pulled over on the [...]

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Smoky Mountain Zen

February 21, 2010 Catagories: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Some days you just need to go out and stack some stones. Right? Just head out along some creek and start wandering, looking for a good selection of stones. The right color, right shape, ability to get along in a stack. Then spend some time stacking the stones, with some failures, some flops, but finally [...]

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Featured Photo: Listening to Silence

February 20, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos

A commitment is required to experience the quiet grandeur of a dawn such as this. With close to an hour drive from the Gatlinburg area, it’s a very early wake-up call. And it’s a gamble, since on any given day you may experience only dense fog at the 6000+ foot elevation. But the rewards can [...]

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Walkin’ around My Town

February 19, 2010 Catagories: Gatlinburg

Still the snowcap on Mt. LeConte, still the cabin fever. So head downtown for a walk-around.

Gatlinburg on a winter weekday can be slow, with few tourists on the Parkway promenade. The wishing well is frozen, and hardly a brave soul on the chair lift. The ticky-tack gaudiness of the Parkway is on [...]

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Featured Photo: the Red Leaf

February 16, 2010 Catagories: Featured Photos

The Red Leaf evokes the zen concept “all of Autumn in a single leaf.” The image has almost mystical qualities when seen in person, with a 3-D effect that has literally hundreds of people touching the picture each year to see if the leaf is curling off the page.
The Red Leaf is part of a [...]

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Chapels of Love

February 14, 2010 Catagories: Gatlinburg

What to write about on Valentine’s Day weekend?  Gatlinburg is second only to Las Vegas in the number of wedding ceremonies each year … around 10,000 for this small village near the Smoky Mountains. To accommodate all those weddings, Gatlinburg has quite a few chapels.  Many are located on Glades Rd, which is also home [...]

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Favorite Trails: Spruce Flat Falls

February 8, 2010 Catagories: Favorite Trails

Spruce Flat Falls is one of the hidden gems of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The trail is about a mile each way, not too rugged but with a bit of a climb. The trail passes through a thicket of Mountain Laurel, which will be in bloom the first week or two in May.
To [...]

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