Wordless Wednesday: Early Morning in Cades Cove
Tag Archives: Cades Cove
Featured Photo: Cades Cove Morning
Cades Cove Morning is a fairly new addition to the William Britten Gallery, taken from Hyatt Lane in the Cades Cove section of the Smoky Mountains. This photo was taken just after 7:00, when the morning was bathed in a golden, syrupy light, and the mist still lingering on the valley floor.
This photo draws the viewer into the scene with a series of triangles along the lower part. Low-angled sunlight creates dramatic shadows and contrast. The mist scooting along the valley floor is just icing on the cake! As often happens with a successful photo, conditions were perfect on this day. I went back just a few days later to see if I could improve on the photo, but the Park Service had trimmed the grass around the fence posts! And there was no mist on the second day.
Cades Cove Morning is offered in all sizes. Details of sizes and pricing can be found on at the bottom of the How to Buy page.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountains Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN. There may be a Smokies photo memory for you to take home with you.
Smoky Mountains History: John Oliver Lodge and Abrams Falls
The photo above was taken by Dutch Roth on a trip with the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club. The group is shown in front of the John Oliver Lodge in Cades Cove. Oliver was one of the last residents of Cades Cove to give up his land to the new National Park, fighting all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Oliver finally quit his property on Christmas Day in 1937.
The photos below are also from Dutch Roth, taken years later on another trip to Abrams Falls.
From his journal, Tales from the Woods, Roth remembers another trip to John Oliver’s Lodge and Abrams Falls:
A NIGHT ON STRAW
We went to Cades Cove June 1,1929, and spent the night at the John Oliver Lodge and hiked to Abrams Falls the next day. We had a good time and had good food there at the lodge and slept on straw mattresses.
The falls are only three miles from John Oliver’s Lodge, so this is one of our short hikes. Although this trip can be made in a day, it is more fun to spend two days in the cove and enjoy its beauty.
We left Knoxville at 3 P.M. Saturday June 1, and drove via Maryville, Kinzel Springs, and on a winding road into Cades Cove and to John Oliver’s new Lodge. We arrived in time to see the sun getting low enough to cause the mountains to turn from green to blue, to purple. This is beautiful, looking across the cove. We came with enough food for three meals and did our own cooking, since Oliver’s Lodge is equipped with two cook stoves and cooking utensils. First one comes gets the use of the straw mattress bunks which are on each side of the rooms. There were two small rooms with several bunks and a large room with chairs, table, cook stoves, and the rest of the bunks.
I always got there early so that I could pick out the bunk that I wanted. Like Little Red Riding Hood, I tried them all out to see which one has the softest straw. Then,too, I like to get supper over early and my things put away, so that I can go out and sit on the front steps and let someone else use the stove and table. In the evening, we sat around in the big room of the lodge and sang. One by one you could see sleepy heads going off to their bunks or out to their tents or sleeping bags for those who wanted to camp out.
You can really sleep, it is so peaceful and quiet, with the only sound being the wind whistling in the pines and now and then a cowbell from a nearby field. The next day we all got up early and fried our bacon and eggs or whatever we brought for breakfast and packed our lunch and were ready to start hiking about 8:30 a.m.
The lodge was set in a pine thicket, and early in the morning with the sun rising through the mist and forming a silhouette of the pines and the birds singing it was really beautiful.
Used with permission of The Great Smoky Mountains Regional Collection, University of Tennessee Libraries
Free Wallpaper: Spring Morning in Cades Cove
It’s time for another free Smoky Mountains wallpaper! This is early morning on a misty spring morning in Cades Cove. So peaceful, the day just getting started, full of promise.
This photo, and all other Smoky Mountains wallpaper, can be downloaded from http://williambritten.com/wallpaper/ Just click on the file name “Cades-Cove-Morning-Wall.jpg” and then once the large image has come up in your browser, right-click on it to save it to your hard drive. Then follow instructions below. All wallpaper images are © William Britten and are for your personal use only.
For Windows users, just save the file to any location, then Open Desktop Background by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, clicking Personalization, and then clicking Desktop Background. Then click the Picture location down arrow and click Browse to search for the picture on your computer. When you find the picture you want, double-click it. It will become your desktop background and appear in the list of desktop backgrounds. Finally, under How should the picture be positioned, choose to have the picture fit the screen, and then click OK.
On the Mac, save the image to your Pictures folder, or any other location. Open System Preferences icon on your dock, and select Desktop & Screensaver. Select the picture, and then select Fill Screen, or Stretch to Fill Screen.
Watch for more free wallpaper images in the weeks to come! And please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountains Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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 boundless serenity of the valley.
Cades Cove is nearly 7000 acres of pasture, woodlands, streams and mountainsides – an almost unimaginable area of vastness and beauty. There is only one road in to the valley, and the watershed is completely contained within … exiting from the western side via Abrams Creek.
To the millions who visit, Cades Cove is a series of postcard pictures of American pioneer life. To me it represents an idea that has vanished, but may come again. The idea of human settlements sized to fit the natural boundaries and available resources. Self-contained, self-sufficient, capable of sustaining a community indefinitely both in terms of physical and spiritual comfort.
The door is unlocked and the welcome mat out at the William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg. All of my Smoky Mountains pictures are on display for you to browse.
Lots of Doe but no Bucks
A few weeks ago I was roaming around Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains and found lots of deer. More than a hundred deer. But they were all bucks. A few days ago I was back in Cades Cove and again found plenty of deer, but this time they were all female! The doe above was enjoying a lush patch of grass beside the road leading to the Abrams Falls trailhead. I walked right up beside her, but she was not going to budge from that grass! Here she is again in the photo below taking a break from the feast.
The doe in the photo above is looking over into the dead brown brush leftover from winter, wondering why the rest of her herd is missing out on the tasty new shoots that she found. They weren’t so bold as this one, skittering off into the weeds whenever I approached.
Cades Cove is a wonderful place to be with nature. It’s the only place that I know in the Smoky Mountains where you can be among deer in this way. If you do, you come to know them as friendly and peaceful creatures.
When you plan your Smoky Mountains getaway, I’d be delighted if you found time to visit the William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg. You might find a photo there to capture your memories and take them home with you. Check out the Featured Photo section of this site to see most of the framed pieces featured in my Gallery.
Spring Comes to Cades Cove
The photo above was taken this week in the Cades Cove area of the Smoky Mountains. The calendar says it’s still winter, but these daffodils say it’s time for spring! That’s Hyatt Lane branching off the loop road in the upper part of the photo. The large clump of daffodils is huddled around three large trees which were probably part of an old homestead.
This was a very cold morning, and the blooms were a little droopy from a frost during the night. There is another famous planting of daffodils in Cades Cove, just past the Missionary Baptist Church. On the right side of the loop road, these were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps during their work in the Smoky Mountains.
During your next Smoky Mountains vacation please stop in for a visit at the William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg. All of my photography is on display, framed or unframed. The Featured Photo area of this website is a good guide to the framed pieces that you’ll find in my Gallery.
Smoky Mountains History: Fences
In the days before barbed wire, the traditional fencing material in the Smoky Mountains was rails split from a rot-resistant hardwood such as chestnut or yellow locust. The fence above at John Olivers place in Cades Cove is known as a snake, worm, or zig-zag. Sometimes the rails were just stacked up in zig-zag fashion, and sometimes there was a corner post added for stability, as in the picture below from the Mountain Farm Museum.
Another common variation of the split rail fence is post and rail fence, which was built in a way that allowed a straight line.
The Smoky Mountains pioneers also created stone fences, similar to the ones that are so common in New England. It is likely that stone fences were made when clearing areas that were very rocky, such as along the Roaring Fork pictured below.
Eventually, in the later 1800s, barbed wire became available, although it had to be bought rather than simply using native materials. The fence below is in Cades Cove.
The William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in Gatlinburg features full display of Smoky Mountain photos. Please stop and visit during your next trip to the Smokies!
Miles Away on Monday: Quiet Day in the Cove
It’s a quiet and peaceful day in Cades Cove. Winter is really special here. Plenty of time to cruise the loop road at your own pace, stopping whenever the mood strikes. In winter the deer come out by the dozens — probably over 100 of them in the central meadow on a sunny day like today.
Park your car and walk into the fields, taking in the surrounding mountains while you work your way down to the valley floor. Deer all around you. And if you’re extra lucky, maybe you’ll spot a coyote slinking off into the woods. It feels good to just stand there and do nothing but be in the passing moments of the day for a while.
Winter is a quiet season, but we’re still out here on Glades Rd in Morning Mist Village, where you’ll find all of my Smoky Mountains images on display at the William Britten Gallery.
Cades Cove: Missionary Baptist Church
In 1839 a group split from the Primitive Baptist Church to form their own congregation. The structure pictured above was built in 1915.
I visited the church on a bright winter day in February when there were almost no cars on the Cades Cove loop road.
As with many of the historic building in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Missionary Baptist Church has attracted its share of visitors who seem unable to resist marking their visit in some way.
The complete display of my Smoky Mountain Photography can be seen at the William Britten Gallery on Glades Rd in the Morning Mist Village in Gatlinburg.
Young Bucks of Cades Cove
Last week I headed over to Cades Cove with these deer in mind. In winter they tend to congregate in large groups in the central meadow of the Cove. I parked along the loop road and walked down into the field among the herd of young bucks. Don’t ask me where the doe or the old bucks were … these were a bunch of young guys.
It’s a lot like walking into a cow pasture. The deer were barely interested in me, certainly not threatened. My new interest in video was a perfect match for these bucks frolicking in the winter sun. You can also view a full-size version.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountains Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
Smoky Mountains Wildflowers: Flowering Spurge
Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) is a large, bushy plant with many small flowers. It favors fields, roadsides, and open woods. The picture above was taken along the Cades Cove Loop Road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The image picture was in the Greenbrier section along Porters Creek Trail. Look for Flowering Spurge in mid to late summer.
This plant has a few nicknames, such as Go Quick, Purging Root, and Emetic Root. From these names you may be able to deduce the plant’s purported medicinal value. A doctor in reported in 1817 that it was among the “most efficient of the evacuating class” of plants.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
Cades Cove: Dan Lawson Place
Dan Lawson’s place along the Cades Cove loop road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park dates from 1856. The house is one of the “transitional” structures, featuring hewn logs as well as sawn lumber. The brick chimney, from bricks made on the site, is also unusual and modern. There is a granary (below), a smokehouse, and a barn on the property.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
Hyatt Lane in Cades Cove
I can’t seem to get enough of Cades Cove this summer. Maybe it’s due to the renovated loop road. The photograph above was taken along Hyatt Lane, which bisects the loop road in the Cades Cove section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
This picture was taken on the same morning as one of my Featured Photos, Cades Cove Morning. A few days later I went back to for another go at this gorgeous rural scene, but the Park folks had cut the long grass around the fence posts, and it ruined the mood.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
The new Cades Cove Loop Road
The Cades Cove Loop Road was recently repaved. It’s a smooth ride now, a beautiful country road! Worth the weeks of waiting while to loop was closed.
The loop is closed on Wednesday and Saturday mornings until 10:00 from early May until late September to allow bicycles and walkers access to the loop without cars.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
Cades Cove Morning
I roamed around Cades Cove on a glorious spring morning last week. Here is a collection of panoramas that were created by stitching several images together. No words can add to the beauty that is Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Click on an image to get a larger view.
Please stop in and visit me to see the complete display of Smoky Mountain Photography at the William Britten Gallery in Gatlinburg, TN.
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