Could life get any better than this? So many cabins, so many great Smoky Mtn views, plenty of time to enjoy it all. Mt. LeConte beckons in the photo above. This resort cabin sits high on Shields Mountain, about 10 miles out from the Smokies. With some rocking chairs on the front porch and a hot tub…
Happy Friday! It’s been a while since we had a Philosophical Friday. Today’s thoughts are about living in an area like Gatlinburg that features great changes in altitude. Downtown Gatlinburg is about 1500 feet above sea level, yet only about 20 miles away, on the top of Clingman’s Dome, the altitude has climbed to 6,643 feet!…
In April of every year the Smoky Mountains are showered with dogwood blooms like a late spring snowstorm. Everywhere you go … up in the Greenbrier, along the Little River or the lower elevations of the Newfound Gap Road … in Elkmont and Tremont … the dogwoods sprinkle their blooms like white notes on the…
Trout Lily (Erythronium umbilicatum) is an early spring bloomer that can be found before the trees leaf out in the lower elevations of the Smoky Mountains. However, I have seen it blooming much later near the 6000 foot level along the Clingman’s Dome Road. Trout Lily often forms large colonies by way of their root…
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 calendar has turned towards warmth and renewal, the Smoky Mountains trails are shaking off their winter drowse, and once again we are headed towards the great spring wildflower pilgrimage. This is an exciting time of year when the trails seem to change on a daily basis. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a delicate, subtle beauty…
This is a short, sweet hike with a special and nearly secret destination. Jakes Creek Trailhead is the starting point, which is found by turning left just before entering the Elkmont campground. Go on past the first parking area for the Little River Trail, to the new parking area near the old Elkmont cabins. Walk…
You could get lost in the layers of this scene. Late afternoon, sun setting on the Smoky Mountains, the shadows enhancing the definition of the landscape. Taken from my newly-favored perch on top of the Space Needle in downtown Gatlinburg. I spent an hour up there last week all by myself, getting lost in the…
Jim Thompson was a founding member of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club and a prominent Knoxville photographer during the 1920s to 1940s. Along with his friend and fellow hiker, Dutch Roth, Thompson created a large body of images from the early days of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I will be posting images from…
This time of year can be absolutely breathtaking in the Gatlinburg area. Both of these images show a winter panorama of the Smoky Mountains with Mt. LeConte center stage. They were taken from a ridge way out on Upper Middle Creek Rd. about 10 miles or so from the Smokies. A long telephoto lens was…
I’ve been working on a couple of poster designs for the coming year. Have never done a poster before … since there will be a print run of 1000 copies, I’ll start with just these two. Of course the actual posters won’t have the white border like these blog images. What do you think? I’d…
For all my blog, facebook, and twitter followers I’m offering a free image that can be used as a desktop wallpaper or as a screensaver. The image can be downloaded from http://williambritten.com/wallpaper/winter-silence-screensaver.jpg This is an impressionistic snow scene taken in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smokies National Park. The effect is created by moving…
Greenbrier Autumn Watercolor is another new one from the 2010 fall season. It’s a triptych, or three vertical panels that create a horizontal scene. I’ve been wanting to do a triptych, and this autumn panoramic was the perfect opportunity. The scene is in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was taken…
HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone! I’ll be spending the day down at the Gatlinburg Convention Center in the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Fair. Come on down and visit if you are in town. The William Britten Gallery will be closed today, but will re-open tomorrow.
Color Cascade is a new fall image for 2010. It was taken from one of the bridges spanning the Ramsay Prong of the Little Pigeon River in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This picture was taken from exactly the same spot as the winter scene below. This image was taken…
From Dutch Roth’s journal, Tales from the Woods: MARKING THE A.T. AUGUST 18,1929 Many present-day hikers tramping through the Smokies on grade A trails have undoubtedly wondered what adventurer would travel a slippery stream and force his way through miles of wet briars, sleep on the bare earth, with the forest as his bedroom and wild…
Ephraim and Minerva Bales subsisted on 70 rock-infested acres along the Roaring Fork in the early 1900s. Walking around this homestead, it’s hard to escape the sense of overwhelming difficulty that surely characterized the life here. Compared to some of the home places in Cades Cove, or Cataloochee Valley, or even right down the road…
Are we tired of these glorious autumn scenes? It will soon be over, but for now the feast for the eyes continues! This one is along the Little River in the Great Smoky Mountains, between Metcalf Bottoms and Tremont. And from the same area, the pleasing reflections below. If you grow weary of driving the…
Alfred Reagan lived along the Roaring Fork in the Smoky Mountains in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His home is different than the other settlers cabins in this area in that it is constructed with sawn boards and painted. Supposedly Reagan chose the colors from a limited offering in the Sears catalog. Reagan was…
A few days ago we had a thick fog in the morning. I headed out just before daylight to beat the traffic into the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. The fog was still thick when I started around the loop. But the leaf-lookers were still in bed, so there was no traffic! I stopped the car…
This picture was taken along the Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Just stopped the car along the roadside and took this random, typical shot of the woods held in the embrace of autumn. This time of year you can drive around the Smokies and find pockets of peak leaf color,…
Here’s a stop that often gets ignored among the attractions in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. From Gatlinburg, head up toward Newfound Gap, and then on down towards Cherokee. You’ll see the sign for Mingus Mill on the right, about a half-mile before you get to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The mill was built…
In Greek mythology, the goddess Astraea wept as she ascended into the heavens to become the constellation Virgo. Where her tears touched the Earth, Asters sprouted. Wildflowers of the Aster family brighten up the landscape in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the autumn season. You can see them everywhere, along roadsides and trails….
Albert “Dutch” Roth lived from 1890 to 1974, and left an astonishing collection of amateur photographs which document the early years of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Roth’s photos and journal of his hiking adventures offer a rare and intimate view of the Smokies from the 1920s through the 1950s. Up to 1958 Dutch had…
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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