Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Little River

The Little River begins on the north slopes of Kuwohi, the tallest mountain in Tennessee. From there it meanders through Great Smoky National Park for 18 miles before it exits the park and then flows towards Knoxville. Inside the park, someone kindly built a road that runs along a good portion of the river. And they were also nice enough to put in lots of convenient pull-offs for people to stop at and take pictures.



This overlook also had a bonus attraction with this great view of Meigs Falls.



I headed down the road but didn't make it too far before stopping at another pull-off. The river has crystal clear water, which flows over and around large rocks and boulders.









I stopped at another pull-off along a slower stretch of the river. Here the shore was flat, a nice place that we would return again with the kids.







And at another pull-off was this nice little waterfall, so I dutifully stopped to get a few more pictures.







And the view looking upriver.



I needed to get back to our place in Gatlinburg. I had promised the family that I would return at a certain time, which was quickly approaching. There isn't cell phone service in the park, so there's not a way to call and say you're going to be late. So I reluctantly turned around, but luckily I would be able to have more time later on our trip to see more of the Little River.

I did make one last stop, getting a few shots from this really scenic spot: 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park - The Sinks

Last week was the kid's Spring Break, and we decided to take them over to Tennessee for a visit to the Smoky Mountains. So we headed east through Memphis (unfortunately no time to stop for ribs), and then through Nashville and then eventually Gatlinburg.

We last visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park ten years ago, and I was excited to get back. The park is beautiful, with scenic overlooks and waterfalls and mountain streams. I was quite eager to get out and into the park, so I woke up before sunrise the next day (unsurprisingly, no one else wanted to wake up early and get back in the car for more driving). It was raining and foggy when I drove into the park.

They say it's always darkest before the dawn, which of course means there's no light for taking pictures. I followed the Little River Gorge Road, and stopped at one of the first pulloffs to wait for the sunrise. Finally there was just light enough to get a few pictures, so I set up the camera under an umbrella and tried to get a few pictures. I got this shot, which was taken with a 30 second exposure.



Then I headed further down the road to a spot called The Sinks - a 15 foot-tall waterfall along the Little River.



The Sinks isn't actually a natural waterfall. It was man-made, back before this was a National Park. Back in the 1800s there was a large logging industry here, and one of the ways that fallen trees were sent to the sawmill was to float them down the Little River. But one year a massive logjam occurred at a horseshoe bend in the river. Hundreds of logs piled up, and the loggers came up with a solution - dynamite. The resulting blast left a deep chasm, which removed the logs but also rerouted the river.



It was pouring rain when I was there, and I had the place to myself. The parking lot was empty and only a few cars passed over the bridge. We stopped here a few other times on our trip, and each time it would be nearly packed with people. There were even people swimming here, despite the numerous signs saying that swimming was prohibited (and also despite the water probably being really really cold). But this morning I headed back to the car, dried off the camera, and drove off to a few more scenic spots on the Little River. More photos from here on the next post...

Back In The USSR

Along Hwy. 65, deep in the Arkansas Delta, is the small community of Moscow.



Luckily there is no Putin here. Just a few houses and a large collection of farm equipment.



Dark storm clouds lingered above Moscow, and the nearby fields that all the farm equipment will soon be taking over.

Grady

Most people drive right past the small town of Grady as the hurry by on Hwy. 65. In fact a lot of people might remember Grady since it used to be a pretty notorious speed trap. I got caught there too, way back when I was in college heading down to New Orleans for Spring Break. 

Grady sits within the Arkansas Delta, and is surrounded by flat fields that are dotted with grain silos. I pulled off of Hwy. 65 and made a quick stop at this one, which was reflected in a large puddle. It was a stormy day and dark clouds were overhead.



Spring is almost here, and the barren fields will soon be growing soybean and rice and cotton.



The old high school in Grady was built in 1915, and was used until the school district was consolidated with Star City.



And just down the road is this old house:



And just outside of town was this abandoned farmhouse:



Also nearby is this old church, almost hidden amongst the trees and overgrown brush:



And a quick peek inside. It looks like the floor is about to fully collapse (I wasn't brave enough to step inside):



And one last shot, of another abandoned house that stood out thanks to its bright paint:

School's Out

In the flat and verdant lands of the Arkansas Delta sits an abandoned school. The rusty metal doors were probably once locked up tight, but they had been pushed open at some point. It's hard to tell how long it has been abandoned. There are still some library books on shelves and assorted toys scattered about. But also parts of the roof are gone, and chunks of ceiling tiles and insulation sit in soggy heaps on the ground.





It had stormed the day before, and rainwater had percolated throughout the building. The long hallway in the middle of school was interspersed with puddles, and the floors were still wet.



I'm not sure of the history of the building. It was once an elementary school, but it probably closed when the school district was consolidated. It then served as a daycare/learning center. In one room, there were some old teddy bears left behind.



In one room there were desks set up, as if a teacher would stroll in at anytime to start a lesson. But most of the chairs were filled with debris or water. Many of the desks had water damage, the fake wood peeling up like sunburned skin.



Like all abandoned and forgotten places, there was that sense of both sadness and foreboding. This building must have seen decades worth of kids passing through, running down the halls and trying to sit still during math lessons. Now the only movement was water dripping down through the gaps in the ceiling.





Although the students are long gone, there are a few reminders of them. Like this stuffed animal, sitting on a book shelf that's covered with fallen debris from the ceiling.



The screams and laughs of kids at recess are nothing but memories. Now the building is quiet, the only noise being the sounds of the occasional car driving down the nearby road. 

Under The Bridge

The newly rebuilt I-30 bridge, which cost 634 million dollars and took four years to complete, recently opened up. And along with it, large swaths of Riverfront Park which had previously been home to construction equipment. I had some free time so I headed to the park, and set up the camera under the bridge for a few pictures.



The bridge is nice, I guess. I mean it accomplishes the goal of getting cars across the river. But it's a bit boring, though. For all the money they spent on it, could it have hurt them to make it look nicer? When the Golden Gate Bridge was built, it cost $35 million (which was the equivalent of $610 million in today's money). But for the same amount this looks like the basic and cheapest bridge option from the first Sim City game.

Pettaway

Last weekend was the Mardi Gras parade along Main Street in the SOMA area of Little Rock. We were actually able to participate this time, riding along on the float for the Paper Hearts Bookstore (the kids seemed to love it). Before the start of the parade, all the floats had to line up and wait. We were parked along a side street in the Pettaway neighborhood, and as we waited I saw something that looked like it might make for a decent picture. So I returned a few days later, when hopefully the street wouldn't be so crowded with parade floats and marching bands.

When I got there it was still busy. There were a bunch of construction workers and trucks around - the city was redoing the sidewalks. I parked and managed to get a few quick pictures without hopefully getting too much in their way. But what caught my attention was this quaint old house, sitting in front of the hulking edifice of the old VA hospital. The hospital closed a long time ago, and the building had been empty for awhile. It's currently being turned into apartments.



Not too far away is a wooden carving of the Lorax, from the Dr. Seuss book. Carved below is the word "UNLESS," which is from a famous quote in the book: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Which seems really fitting in this bizarre new world we see ourselves in now, as National Park rangers are being cruelly and needlessly fired and millions of acres of National Forest lands are being offered up for destruction. It's really heartbreaking.

Scott

The small town of Scott sits just east of Little Rock, on the edge of the Delta. But despite it sitting so close to the state's largest city, it still feels like it belongs in the past. There are many old and historic buildings here, including several old farm buildings. Like this old silo that was bathed in golden light from the setting sun, reflected in a rain puddle.



There is also a nice collection of older buildings all gathered together here at the Scott Plantation Settlement. The settlement started in the 1990s, when numerous old buildings from the surrounding area were moved and placed here to form an outdoor museum. The settlement includes a plantation "big house," a dogtrot house, a blacksmith shop, a smoke house, a cotton pen, a corn crib, a church, a school, a tenant house, and even an outhouse (not sure if it's functional or not). Also included here is the old Scott train station, which was built in 1911. It was built for the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company as part of the Cotton Belt Route, and served passengers until 1929. After that the station briefly served passengers again in the 1970s when it was used for a tourist excursion train. The station was moved here from its original location, and now it's the visitor center for the museum.

It is a neat old building, and also a good spot for an attempt at a star trail photograph. So I set up the tripod and the camera, and started taking pictures after it got dark. Scott was an ideal place to do star trails, there isn't that much light pollution. And there was cell phone service, so I was able to watch the FC Dallas season opener on my phone while the camera was taking a bunch of pictures (and good news, FCD beat Houston 2-1).

And here is the final result. This is the combination of over 200 pictures, taken over the course of two hours:

The Fog Is Getting Thicker...

The fog from that morning got thicker as the day went on, and by evening there was hardly any visibility. Which was, of course, perfect time to get out and take pictures again. After getting both kids to bed I hurried over to the Big Dam Bridge.



It was a little eerie to see the bridge seem to fade out and disappear into the fog.





Despite the thick fog, there were still several people out walking on the bridge.



As I was standing here taking photos, a loud siren started to blare. I'm not going to lie, it was a bit startling. I may or may not have jumped and did a little scream. Apparently it's a warning to boaters (which there weren't any) that water was about to released from the dam.



I walked away from the siren, and followed the bridge as it passed over the Murray Lock. From here, the buildings and lights drifted off into the foggy expanse of the river.



And one last shot from the bridge, as the fog swallowed and enveloped the night.

Lunch Break Photos

Fog and photography are a great mix. And one morning last week had some thick fog, the perfect for going out into the woods to take pictures. But of course, it was a weekday and I had to go to the office for work. But I grabbed the camera anyways, with the hope that the fog would stick around until my lunch break.

I had a hard time paying attention at work since I was constantly checking outside to make sure the fog hadn't dissipated. And when lunch time rolled around I was pleased to see it was still foggy, and I happily ran out of work like Fred Flintstone. My work is in the far reaches of west Little Rock, so I headed out to a few places nearby. But while the fog was thick around the office, unfortunately it started to slack off as soon as I drove out.

But I was out with the camera, so I tried to take a few pictures anyways.



And then I stopped to get a picture at this covered bridge, which is a neat spot even if there wasn't any fog. After that I turned around and made it back to the office before the lunch break ended.