Sunday, May 17, 2015

GREAT SMOKYS - FOUR


Cades Cove keeps drawing me in. Sunday morning I started up toward Newfound Gap for sunrise, but the Park was in the fog! So I turned West and returned to Cades Cove after being blocked by a downed tree across the Park Road.

I was rewarded with a foggy morning in the meadows of Cades Cove. The gate to that area is normally closed until 0700, which is shortly after sunrise, but the Ranger today was about 15 minutes early. I really enjoyed the feeling of the atmosphere and got a couple of photos of deer in the foggy meadows.

DEWY WEB
WHITE TAIL IN FOG

FOGGY MORNING


FOG AND TREE

TREE AND FOGGY HILLS

FOGGY HILLS

FOGGY MOUNTAIN
Also went in quest of a black bear I had seen moving through which ended with my having wet feet due to traipsing through tall very wet grass, no bear photographs, and the loss of my lens hood for my long lens.

I enjoyed a very quiet breakfast while sitting in the Cades Cove Picnic area next to a stream.  Afterwards I stopped along the Little River Road to photograph lovely Meig Falls.


Add caption
MEIG FALLS

 I drove up to Newfound Gap to do a short hike along the Appalachian Trail which goes from Georgia to Mt. Katahdin in Maine. I have hiked bits of the
trail in New England. The weather had not changed and there were occasional showers and a cold wind. 

FOGGY HILLS


 
About 1500 I called it a day having been wearing wet boots almost all day,
and the weather was not going to improve.

Monday morning I went for sunrise above Newfound Gap. The clouds were there and it was quite breezy but I had fun, I was going to go further up the highway to Clingman’s Dome but it was totally clouded over.

MORNING AT NEWFOUND GAP

SUN PLAY, NEWFOUND GAP

TREES WAITING FOR SPRING
I returned to the lower elevations and hiked a couple of short trails around the Visitor Center area. Was still in quest of more yellow lady’s slippers but to no avail.

SQUAW ROOT

DOG HOBBLE

CABIN REMAINS


FLOWER GARDEN


WONDERFUL SPRING GREEN
 I started on one trail near Elkmont when a hiker told me to go to the School House Gap Trail which entailed about a 45 minute drive to the trail head. I had a great hike on a quiet trail but never did find the elusive lady's slippers. I did see another new flower for me called May-Apple. 

MOUNTAIN BELLWORT

CATESBY'S TRILLIUM

WHITE TRILLIUM

WHITE TRILLIUM GETTING OLD

MAY-APPLE


At the end of this hike, I was again trying to beat darkness and succeeded, though not by much.

I really enjoyed this trip, both with fellow photographers, and exploring on my own. The latter part would have been more fun with George along for a hiking companion and fellow lover of the great outdoors.

I loved this quote I found at Newfound Gap:

“Man has created some lovely dwellings –
    some soul-stirring literature.
         He has done much
to alleviate physical pain.
         But he has not …
created a substitute for a sunset,
                  a grove of pines,
         the music of the winds,   the dank smell of the deep forest,

or the shy beauty of a wildflower.”
                                    --- Harvey Broome, Naturalist

Have a wonderful day.

GREAT SMOKYS - THREE


I had decided to stay a few extra days as this was an opportunity to do some more exploring of the park, and perhaps get in a couple of hikes.

After being dropped off at the Knoxville airport, I picked up a car and returned to the Park. As I knew that the weekend crowds would be coming the next day I returned to Cades Cove first. There are a lot of people who come to the Cove area to enjoy the landscapes, but also to view wildlife as it is a well known area for that.

CADES COVE MEADOW
 Almost immediately I was caught up in a “bear jam”. I was probably a good half a mile from the sighting and could not move as the road is a single lane one way. Finally there was a bit of a let up as the bears were quite a distance away. Then I saw one which was a possible photo op in a grassy area, in good light, and not too far away. I was able to safely park off road and then start photography. This was a single bear who was a good size, and was not really fazed by the cars or the people. 



 
 After about half an hour photographing it, I continued on to find a place for a breakfast/lunch picnic and a hike. I headed for Abram’s Falls. After scrounging a spoon from fellow hikers I was able to have some granola and yogurt with a banana. Then I hit the trail for the Falls which was basically downhill, and about two miles away. It was well worth the effort and really was not difficult.  Of course it was uphill on the return trip.
 
ABRAMS FALLS 1

ABRAM FALLS 2

ABRAM FALLS 3

ABRAM FALLS WITH A VISITOR


Not only was the Falls beautiful and fun to photograph but I also saw a couple more new plants: Bleeding Hearts, Star Chickweed, Sweetshrub, Thyme-leaved Bluets, and Fringed Polygala.

FRINGED POLYGALA

STAR CHICKWEED

SWEETSHRUB

BLEEDING HEARTS

THYME-LEAVED BLUETS

 I called it a day after the return from the hike to the Falls. I had been going hard for five days and needed to catch my breath and do laundry, etc.

On Saturday morning I slept in, ate breakfast at the Motel, and did my laundry. In the afternoon I retraced my steps to the Sugarland Visitor Center where I got some help identifying a couple of plants. Then I returned to the Ogle's Cabin area for some more exploration of the nature trail there. I found a few more flowers to photograph, an old grist mill, and the Yellow Lady’s Slipper which is more elusive than the Pink.

SPRING GREEN

COLUMBINE





GRIST MILL 1

GRIST MILL 2

PINK LADY'S SLIPPER TRIO

YELLOW LADY'S SLIPPER

I returned to Morton’s Overlook for sunset.

SUNSET, MORTON'S OVERLOOK