Peace in Wild Places captures the mood of a foggy Smoky Mtns trail, miles away from cares and worries. This photo was taken along the Appalachian Trail at an altitude above 6000 feet near Clingmans Dome. To me the image spoke to the enduring peace that can be found in remote natural areas. I especially…
Ah … those feathery ferns guide the way down this hiking trail that clearly is headed towards serenity. There’s a little clump of bluets to enjoy … see them on the left side of the trail in the foreground? Everything is sparkling new-morning bright, still dew-covered or maybe it’s the mist in the air. Oh,…
Never too busy to sit down for a moment or two. Or three. The summer season is just beginning. The nights here in Gatlinburg still have a snap to them, the cool air comes rolling down the Smoky Mountains. Mist in the mornings, windows and doors opened wide to capture some freshness for the day….
There are some wonderful and easy Smoky Mountains hikes at 5000 feet and above that will transport you from the dense hardwood forests of the Southeast to the balsam-scented spruce and fir forests of the Great North Woods. You don’t need to be a back-country camper or Appalachian Trail through-hiker to find the surreal serenity…
The Thomas Divide is a 14-mile spine along the eastern side of the Deep Creek watershed. The Kanati Fork Trail climbs up the eastern side of the Thomas Divide, rising over 2000 feet from Newfound Gap Rd in a series of switchbacks until it meets the Thomas Divide Trail on the ridge. The two trails…
Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbrier area of the Smoky Mountains is in peak bloom for spring wildflowers right now. The upper portion of the trail, from the long footbridge over the creek on up to Fern Falls, has a stunning ground cover of Fringed Phacelia. I counted over 20 species of wildflowers along Porters…
The hike to Spruce Flat Falls in the Tremont section of the Smoky Mountains is one of my favorite outings. Last weekend I headed up the trail once more, this time with my daughter Sarah and her husband Paul, my four grandsons and brand new grand-daughter in a papoose! It was a beautiful Saturday after…
The Walker Sisters Place is one of many Smoky Mountain homesteads. The five spinster sisters clung to the old self-reliant way of life and became legends in the Smokies. Their lifetime lease on the property ran out in 1964 when the last sister died. Their parents, John and Margaret, had moved to the homestead in…
Spruce Flat Falls is one of the hidden gems of the Smoky Mountains. The hike 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. It’s also a…
The first eight Presidents of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club gathered in December of 1936 and posed for a photo by Dutch Roth. From left to right, and in order of their Presidencies, they are: George Barber, Brockway Crouch, James Thompson, Dr. H. M. Jennison, Harvey Broome, Guy Frizzell, Henry R. Duncan, and Marshall A….
The route to Grotto Falls is one of the sweetest little trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not much more than a mile. As the sign indicates, it’s a part of the Trillium Gap Trail which goes on up to Mt. LeConte. The trail starts from a parking area along the Roaring Fork…
The Smoky Mountains Hiking Club cabin still stands in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can see it by taking the Porters Creek Trail. In 1935 Dutch Roth helped build the cabin. These are his photographs. Below are some excerpts from his journal, titled Tales from the Woods, about the…
Lynn Camp gets its name from a logging camp of the Little River Lumber Company in the 1920s. The old railroad trace provides a wide, flat path that is popular for horseback riding. I love to walk along the old railroad grade beside the Lynn Camp Prong in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s…
It’s Friday again. Time to ponder whatever comes to mind. Like walking in the Great Smoky Mountains with your head pointed upwards. Watch the squirrels jump from treetop to treetop. Appreciate the soft sunlight filtering down through the canopy. Maybe spot a woodpecker at work. This is a stand of poplars. Probably took over the…
If you do much hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you’ve certainly found yourself in the situation pictured above. Love them or hate them, footbridges are common along Smokies trails. Some are vertigo-inducing challenges, and others are tame alternatives to hopping rocks across the stream. Most of them are simple log bridges spanning…
Just a hundred yards north of the Townsend Wye is a parking lot, and across the road is the start of the Chestnut Top Trail. In spring this is one of the premier wildflower hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail cuts into a steep embankment, climbing steadily for the first half-mile…
For ten months of the year the Cove Hardwoods Nature Trail is a short unassuming excursion that is part of the Chimneys Picnic Area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But come April, this trail is transformed into a fairyland of wildflowers. You could hike the Cove Hardwoods Trail every few days during wildflowers…
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…
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…
I live in Gatlinburg TN, on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. The Smokies are a very spiritual place, and I attempt to capture some of that spirit in each of my photographs.
If you are in Gatlinburg, please stop in at my gallery .
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