Philosophical Friday here. A quiet mid-winter day. Here’s a poem from Robert Louis Stevenson, who must have been staring thoughtfully, or otherwise, into a fire when he wrote these lines. Armies in the Fire from Child’s Garden of Verses The lamps now glitter down the street; Faintly sound the falling feet; And the blue even slowly…
Emerts Cove Bridge is one of only two covered bridges near the Smoky Mountains in Sevier County (the other being Harrisburg Bridge off Rt. 339). Emerts Cove bridge is just north of Rt 321, just off Rt. 416 north of Pittman Center. The simplist way to see it is to follow the road directly across…
Out in the Greenbrier today, stopping by a woods on a snowy afternoon to appreciate the silence of snow. Barely another visitor to this corner of the Smoky Mountains today. Cold, calm and quiet, with an early darkness descending. I love winter in the Smokies. It’s really very short … the wildflowers will be sprouting…
It’s Friday, and also my Birthday! So as I thought about the years slipping by, I thought about these two items … the blue hat and the winter boots. The blue knit wool hat pictured above was knitted by my older sister somewhere around 1980. Thanks, Anne! I’ve had it all this time, worn it…
Continuing this week’s snow theme. Dozens of cabins perch on the mountainsides surrounding Gatlinburg. The area just to the west is known as Chalet Village. From my frozen perch atop the Space Needle, I was able to zoom in on some of the cabins, looking very Alpine with their fresh winter coats. The roads should…
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was mostly closed yesterday after a snowstorm the day before. I headed out to the Greenbrier, hoping to find the gate open, but no luck. So I parked and hiked on up the road to the point where the rocks and rapids create a popular spot in the summer…
The picture above is Mt. LeConte and the Smoky Mountains looming over downtown Gatlinburg. Taken from the observation deck of the Space Needle two weeks ago after our big Christmas snowstorm. The Space Needle offers a great vantage point to view the Smokies up close and also get a panoramic view of Gatlinburg and the…
Doesn’t this scene warm your heart? Even as cold as it looks? Makes you want to find the nearest fireplace, invite a cat onto your lap, and be grateful for living on planet Earth. Wow! The wood is cut and dried on the porch, and you’re obviously not going anywhere, so just relax. Hope you’re…
It’s a new year, and things are definitely slowing down in Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. A good time to plan a snug-as-abug getaway! Bring a stack of books or your Kindle and pull up a chair beside the fire. Glance out at the fabulous view a time or two before you doze off into…
It’s New Year’s Eve! Last weekend’s big snow has melted a bit, but it’s still very festive here in Gatlinburg, and the Smoky Mountains still have plenty of snow in the higher elevations. The picture above was taken from the observation deck of the Space Needle, looking out over the Park Vista Hotel towards Mt….
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…
The folks who rented this cabin Christmas Eve got their money’s worth! It’s been snowing ever since … all through Christmas Day, and now still some light snow on the 26th. About 8 inches on the ground now. Of course the wonderful view of the Smoky Mountains and Mt. LeConte from this cabin has vanished…
Yesterday’s Greenbrier in Winter photo was so pretty that I had to do some more. Both of these are along the trail to Ramsay Cascades. The one above is the footbridge at the trail head, and the one below is on up the trail a bit. A nice wet slow that really clung to the…
Earlier this week I was out at the Ogle Place along the Roaring Fork in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had a snowfall followed by frigid temperatures. On this morning I was trying to keep feeling in my fingers with the temperature around 9 degrees! Photographing scenes like the ones above and below…
From the journal of Dutch Roth, Tales From the Woods, describing the history of winter hiking in the Smoky Mountains: We hiked in all kinds of weather and I never forgot my camera, despite the cold or rain. You never know when you might miss a good shot. We hiked around rocks, on rocks, hopped rocks,…
It has been frigid cold here in Gatlinburg! Temperatures in the teens for several days. The morning light has a watery winter translucent quality. Our little cabin stares into the face of a stern and slumbering Mt. LeConte. But it’s also a warm time of year. A fire in the stove, bread in the oven,…
Happy Friday everyone! I recently took a break from our craft fair and stopped in at the Gatlinburg Festival of Trees, at the Mills Center just after Thanksgiving. In the picture above you might be able to see my reflection in the ornament, with the trees all around me. Very M.C. Escher, isn’t it? In…
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…
This footbridge is one of the special places in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains. It crosses the Ramsay Prong of the Little Pigeon River at the beginning of the trail that leads up to the Ramsay Cascades waterfall, and from there on up to the Appalachian Trail. Standing on this footbridge affords…
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…
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 picture above is the footbridge leading to the Ramsey 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….
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…
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…
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 stark display,…
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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