Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Changes in Altitude
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...
Ode to Dogwoods
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...
Walking the Ogle Nature Trail
This past week I took advantage of a lovely spring morning to walk to Bud Ogle Nature Trail before my day in the Gallery began. The Bud Ogle Farm is a popular tourist stop at the start of the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, one of the best Smoky Mountains drives. Most...
A Couple of Waterfalls
Two random Smoky Mtn waterfalls today, one that you hike to, and the other is just a roadside pull-off. The photo above is Fern Branch Falls. This is about two miles up Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbrier section of the Smokies. Fern Branch empties into Porters...
Visiting the Walker Sisters
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,...
Favorite Trails: Spruce Flat Falls
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...
That Sinking Feeling
Driving along Little River Road in the Smoky Mountains last week, the water was high from several days of rain, and there were kayakers putting their boats in the water all along the stretch of road between Townsend and Elkmont. Passing the Sinks parking area, I was...
Wordless Wednesday: One Last Dusting of Snow
Smoky Mountains History: The House That Jack Built
In the late 1920s Gatlinburg entrepreneur Jack Huff built a 20 by 24 foot cabin out of balsam logs that was the forerunner of today's LeConte Lodge. The roof was tarpaper, with a floor of native clay. For more than 35 years Jack and his wife Pauline operated Mt....
Can’t Get Too Much of the Cove
Can a person ever get too much Cades Cove or Smoky Mountains? No need to answer ... I find myself drawn back these days over and over to see what's happening. Mostly it's been all about pictures of deer this winter ... the bucks and the does. Today it's just the...
Miles Away on Monday: Morton Overlook
Last week we experienced a popular Smoky Mountains view at the Oconaluftee Overlook. This time we're enjoying the view from Morton's Overlook. The photograph above is looking west, down the valley towards Gatlinburg. You can see the twin bumps of the Chimney Tops in...