Sunday, 25 November 2007
Julie and I got back from our very quick three day/three night trip to the Smokies on Saturday. We had originally planned to go backpacking for a couple of nights, but because the weather was going to be less the spectacular (rainy at first, then cold), we instead decided to camp at Elkmont, one of the front country campgrounds. We got our tent set up and crawled into our sleeping bags around one in the morning (eastern time) on Wednesday night, or I guess Thursday morning. We ended up sleeping until almost noon the next morning! Which was alright because it did rain most of the day. We had our Thanksgiving dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Gatlinburg, TN then did brave the rain for one hike to Laurel Falls.
We also stopped at one more cascade before night fall. I can't remember what the name of it, but we took a couple of pictures that are kind of blurry, but still give a neat effect.
On Friday morning we decided to set an alarm so we wouldn't sleep quite so late. We planned a nice little day trip to a Ramsey Cascade. During the night, it had snowed in the higher elevations, so it was interesting to hike from a cool damp forest to a cold snow white forest. There were a couple of bridges we had to cross along the way, and it got a little slippery on the way up, but it was definitely worth it.
A picture of Ramsey Cascade (I assume that during the summer months it is even more impressive than this.)
A little break to rest the feet and get something to eat.
After the hike, we decided to drive to the top of Newfound Gap, which is the mountain pass on the only road that goes through the heart of the park. About half way up, we got stuck behind a mile plus long line of cars that was moving at a snail's pace. When we reached the congestion we found out that somebody had seen a black bear which then caused the massive traffic jam. The amount of vehicles in the park while we were there was astounding. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like during the peak season. For example, during November the park gets around 500,000 visitors; during July it gets 1.2 million. Yikes! Anyway, along the way we took some scenic pictures. 
You can still see the frost in the trees from the low level clouds early in the day.
Julie and I got back from our very quick three day/three night trip to the Smokies on Saturday. We had originally planned to go backpacking for a couple of nights, but because the weather was going to be less the spectacular (rainy at first, then cold), we instead decided to camp at Elkmont, one of the front country campgrounds. We got our tent set up and crawled into our sleeping bags around one in the morning (eastern time) on Wednesday night, or I guess Thursday morning. We ended up sleeping until almost noon the next morning! Which was alright because it did rain most of the day. We had our Thanksgiving dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Gatlinburg, TN then did brave the rain for one hike to Laurel Falls.
We also stopped at one more cascade before night fall. I can't remember what the name of it, but we took a couple of pictures that are kind of blurry, but still give a neat effect.
On Friday morning we decided to set an alarm so we wouldn't sleep quite so late. We planned a nice little day trip to a Ramsey Cascade. During the night, it had snowed in the higher elevations, so it was interesting to hike from a cool damp forest to a cold snow white forest. There were a couple of bridges we had to cross along the way, and it got a little slippery on the way up, but it was definitely worth it.
A picture of Ramsey Cascade (I assume that during the summer months it is even more impressive than this.)
A little break to rest the feet and get something to eat.
After the hike, we decided to drive to the top of Newfound Gap, which is the mountain pass on the only road that goes through the heart of the park. About half way up, we got stuck behind a mile plus long line of cars that was moving at a snail's pace. When we reached the congestion we found out that somebody had seen a black bear which then caused the massive traffic jam. The amount of vehicles in the park while we were there was astounding. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like during the peak season. For example, during November the park gets around 500,000 visitors; during July it gets 1.2 million. Yikes! Anyway, along the way we took some scenic pictures.A picture of Gatlinburg, one of the few towns centered around the tourism of the Park.
You can still see the frost in the trees from the low level clouds early in the day.At the top of the Gap there was a pullout, so we took a bunch of pictures. It was getting close to sunset at this time, so there were some cool colors that showed up.
A picture of me along the Appalachian Trail (AT) which passes through the Gap. One of the many beautiful spots along the trail and its 2000+ mile path.
The next morning we pulled up our tent and and headed up to the top again to visit Clingman's Dome. This is an observatory you can climb to get a good look at the Smokies. We also hiked a mile or two along the AT just to say we did it.
Neither of us look like morning people at this point (three days without a shower).It always helps me to sleep when there is a stream right behind our tent.
Picture of a few fall colors hanging on along our way up to the top.
A shot from on Clingman's Dome.
This is the observatory on top of the dome. It was built with a giant ramp instead of stairs so it could be handicap accessible.
It was a good, but fast trip. Because it is so late in the fall we didn't have a lot of daylight to work with. We found our selves most nights, in our sleeping bags by seven. Even still, we both had a pretty good time.
A picture of me along the Appalachian Trail (AT) which passes through the Gap. One of the many beautiful spots along the trail and its 2000+ mile path.
The next morning we pulled up our tent and and headed up to the top again to visit Clingman's Dome. This is an observatory you can climb to get a good look at the Smokies. We also hiked a mile or two along the AT just to say we did it.
Neither of us look like morning people at this point (three days without a shower).It always helps me to sleep when there is a stream right behind our tent.
Picture of a few fall colors hanging on along our way up to the top.
A shot from on Clingman's Dome.
This is the observatory on top of the dome. It was built with a giant ramp instead of stairs so it could be handicap accessible.
It was a good, but fast trip. Because it is so late in the fall we didn't have a lot of daylight to work with. We found our selves most nights, in our sleeping bags by seven. Even still, we both had a pretty good time.
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