Last week we paid a visit to Plemmons Cemetery in the False Gap area of the Greenbrier in the Smoky Mountains. This week we are exploring further up the creek to the Bohannon homestead. The patriarch, Henry Bohannon, was born in Virginia in 1753 and was buried in the...
Today we take a break from Smoky Mountains news and photos to share something personal. Leaving our cats and dog to a house-sitter, Sarah and I are driving down to Atlanta to catch a flight to South America! We're headed to Bogotá, the capital and largest city in...
Dogwood Lullaby is one of the most comfortable and lyrical of my featured Smoky Mountains photos. You can almost hear the dogwood blossoms singing a soft melody on an easy-going Spring morning. Hard times of Winter are over, replaced by the lighthearted and feathery,...
We began our exploration of the False Gap area in the Greenbrier last week. To refresh our memory, this is the area just over the first two bridges as you turn to head up to Ramsey Cascades Trail. Park near the old road with a chain across it to your right. Today we...
Smoky Mountains in late-winter. Still the weak, watery light. Crisp, thin air. The Smokies look like they're shaking off a long sleep, just waking up. But if you walk into the woods, there are definite signs of awakening life. Yesterday I drove out into the Greenbrier...
Updated 2012: This blog post was originally written two years ago, in spring of 2010. The information here is still very valid and useful, but in the past couple of years I've adopted a more "minimalist" approach to photography, and especially wildflower photos. The...
I've noticed that lichen seems to come alive in the winter. In the Smoky Mountains, lichen are everywhere, on boulders and rocks and tree trunks. Maybe they stand out in winter because they are not competing with the lush green foliage of summer. In any case,...
I'd like to do some off-the-beaten-path exploring in search of the history of the Greenbrier this spring. One of the best areas to start is up False Gap because you're hemmed in with the creek on one side and mountains on the other, giving you a nice valley to explore...
Morton Overlook is one of the classic locations for Smoky Mountains photos. You could stop here every day for 365 days in a row and never see the same scene twice. The overlook is on Newfound Gap Rd, near the top, and there is an identifying sign, so it's easy to...
The images on this page are from a 1949 US Geological Survey Map of the Smoky Mountains, which was based on the 1931 map created at the time the National Park came into existence. A copy of this historical topo map can be downloaded...