April 7, 2009

Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Part I

As promised, here are a few photographs from our recent little jaunt up to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was a quick trip, but we managed to pack in a lot of sightseeing. When we first arrived it was raining, so we did a little shopping for primitive crafts and stone-ground cornmeal. The shopping gods were pleased and then produced some sunshine for us! We went on a little hike and saw quite a few wildflowers blooming. We took our time and two hiking sticks helped me along the way.

One of the places we stopped was the Greenbriar area of the park which is accessed northeast of Gatlinburg. The road follows along the Little Pigeon River, as pictured below.

Little Pigeon River, Greenbriar area
On the main road going into the park (toward North Carolina), the area shown below is called the Chimney Tops. The name comes from the two peaks on the ridgeline. Notice that the green tree canopy has not yet made its appearance.

Chimney Tops
There is a beautiful scenic overlook at Newfound Gap, right at the Tennessee and North Carolina border. From this vantage point, you can see the road wind through the mountains toward the town of Cherokee.

North Carolina from Newfound Gap
And another vista at the Newfound Gap overlook tells the story of how the park got its name, with a procession of hazy blue ridges in the distance.

smoky mountains vista
Stay tuned for a Part II post which will feature Cades Cove!

10 comments:

  1. How Gorgeous & completely awesome! I'm glad the weather held up well for you and your DH. How marvelous :) Looking forward to part 2.

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  2. Oh it's breathtaking! ....reminds me a bit of the beautiful scenery we left behind in Colorado! I bet you hated to leave.

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  3. I can barely remember the Smokies from when I was young -- thanks for sharing your trip! I remember why I loved them!

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  4. Great pics!! We went through the very same area last fall on our way to North Carolina too. It was beautiful then with the fall colors.

    Tammy

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  5. thanks Donna...I will send this addy on to my sister to see where we are taking her in Sept..she will love the pictures! Cindy

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  6. Wow! What a beautiful place. Glad the weather was kind and that the shopping was good :-)

    Sharon

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  7. We've been through Gatlinburg...Beautiful country! Thanks for the tour sweetie!!hughugs

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  8. beautiful....thanks for sharing!!1
    hugs,
    kimberly

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  9. Hi Donna,

    What beautiful photos! And it's not that far from me either so I may hop down there to see it someday.

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  10. that would be so wonderful to live there :) I live where I could probably almost see that..lol :)

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Marty, here! Donna loves comments, and I faithfully pass them on to her. Thank you so much for visiting!