Return to Smoky Mountain NP-103025
My audio tour, Shaka Guide, gave me the option of starting at either end of the Smoky Mountain National Park tour, from Cherokee, North Carolina, or Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Since I had just returned from Nashville the day before and would be working my way back east, Gatlinburg was the logical beginning for me. The weather forecast wasn’t ideal–still some rain expected and cloudy–but it was vastly better than the day before. On my previous trip to Smoky Mountain NP, it was my first time in the park. I pretty much meandered my way through, sometimes to popular spots and sometimes off the beaten path. For this trip, the audio tour would probably cover the most popular routes in the park. The map to the right shows the vast spread of Smoky Mountain NP. From the park entrance near Gatlinburg, the audio tour directed me towards Cades Cove, the remains of…
Blue Ridge Parkway, Part 1
Tuesday morning was, as forecast, cloudy but with a far lower chance of rain in the Asheville area. I checked out and got a relatively early start. On Monday, while driving around Asheville, I noticed directional signs indicating that the famous Biltmore Estate was nearby. I wasn’t really interested in a tour of the estate this trip, but I decided to take a chance of getting close enough to the house to get a picture. Based on the appearance of the gatehouse, the grounds have already been decorated for the coming Christmas holidays–more than a month away at that point. Unfortunately, though, I was unable to get past the ticket booth for more photos without buying a ticket. Instead, I headed to the North Carolina Arboretum, where I had planned to begin the audio-guided tour of the portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway that would lead to the Smoky Mountain…
Smoky Mountain High
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First order of business was a stop at : //www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Smoky Mountains National Park on my drive from Iowa. Curious that I'd visited the Rocky Mountain National Park, which is more than halfway across the country, before visiting the park in my home state; however, it seems that we are prone to want to see sites in faraway places rather than those right in our own back yard.
RB and I pulled out of Grinnell on Friday night, reaching Sevierville, Tennessee, on Saturday afternoon. As usual, my first stop was the National Park Service store, where I got their map, information about the park and a medallion for my hiking stick.(NOTE: I'd also learned my lesson from previous national park trips. I filled up the gas tank and picked up some refreshments before entering Smoky National. As it worked out, this was a good decision, for civilization was minimal in the parts I visited with no service stations in sight.)
The park is huge, with a variety of entries and historic and scenic routes through the mountains between Tennessee and North Carolina. And, as usual, features are offered to all sorts of visitors, from the hiker and biker to the motorist.: 16px;">I entered the park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and decided to drive to Cades Grove, advertised as one of the most popular valleys--with excellent opportunities for viewing wildlife in the park. With the exception of some wild horses, I didn't see any wildlife along the way, but the scenery was lovely. The road ran adjacent to a river and led to a looping roadway that held century-plus old cabins and chapels.
While departing via Newfound Gap Road, I got a magnificent view of the sunset. [gallery size="medium" ids="892,889,896,914,898,917,916,899,900,902,903,904,915,905,907,908,909,910"](As usual, most of the pictures I took are available on my : //www.flickr.com/photos/singinone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flickr page.)
By the time I exited the park near Cherokee, North Carolina, and reached the Blue Ridge Parkway, it was nighttime and the mountain roads were like riding on a roller coaster.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/parkmap.jpg" alt="" width="817" height="496">
Oh, I didn't mention that I was scheduled to sing at my home church Sunday morning. So, the race was on to traverse the last 243 miles home. I made it as far as Winston-Salem before I had to stop for a short rest break. I pulled into my mother's driveway at 6: 25 a.m. Believe it or not, I sounded okay singing at church, too!