Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Newfound Gap

The city of Gatlinburg sits on the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and it is a culture shock to go from the deep forests of the park into the tourist trap excess of the city. Gatlinburg is crowded with an assortment of tacky souvenir shops, chain restaurants, Ripley's Believe It Or Nots, Old Timey Photo places and hillbilly mini-golf courses. But Gatlinburg does have a bit more charm to it than the nearby city of Pigeon Forge, which bizarrely has a Titanic and King Kong in it.

Gatlinburg looks best from the overlooks on the mountains that ring the city. At least you can't see the long line of traffic slowly making its way through the city from here.



I met back up with the family and we turned around and headed back into the park. We made the obligatory stop at the National Park sign at the entrance to take pictures. Another family was nice enough to take our picture for us, and they laughed while Elliott (our four year old) yelled out "I need to go potty!" as they were taking the picture. Our next stop was the Sugarlands Visitor Center, which was completely packed with people. We planned this trip months ago, long before the current president and Elon Musk decided to take a "chainsaw" to the federal government and then lay off a bunch of National Park rangers. Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park in the country, with over 12 million visitors last year. Seeing the crowds there, on a weekday morning, was a great reminder of how important our National Park staff is. And why they need more staffing and funding, not less.

From there we headed out on the drive to Newfound Gap. We stopped at this overlook, where the morning fog was starting to be burned off by the sun. The mountains look a little barren, thanks to the damage from a large forest fire in 2016.



And then we made it to Newfound Gap, a mountain pass that sits right on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. It's also a spot where you can walk along the Appalachian Trail for a bit, if you'd like (only about 1900 miles to Maine). We even bumped into a guy who was in the process of thru-hiking the trail, and was heading back to Georgia (he posts on Youtube and is named Captain Jack). Newfound Gap sits at an elevation of 5,048 feet, and it was cold and windy at the overlook.



We then headed back down the mountain, stopping at another overlook. From here there was more fire damage, but you could see the new spring growth starting to pop up on the trees.

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: