Movies from the Great Smoky Mountains

Taken from our drive up to Clingmans Dome

Still more pictures

the last picture was taken from the road to Clingman's Dome, looking out on the mountains below.

More pictures from today

Let it snow, let it snow….. November 17, 2011

Today we decided to take a drive into the Great Smoky Mountains to check out the campgrounds for future trips. It was so much fun because either I had never been to the cities we drove through or had not been to them since I was a little girl.

Maggie Valley is so close to us; we were there in no time & passed by the St. Margaret of Scotland Church with its tower sitting high on a hill. We stopped at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center near Cherokee then drove past where Laura used to perform in “Unto these Hills.” Seems so long ago.

The weather yesterday was so violent in this area, I was glad to see it was better. We drove to Smokemont Campground, a lovely little place open year round with sites right on the river. The river that was wild and rushing, by the way, from all the rains of yesterday. So pretty. Our roads followed the river most of the day. We also saw wild turkeys roaming among the campsites. I whispered to them to run, run for their lives! It was too close to Thanksgiving for them to be running about in the open.

Soon after leaving Smokemont, the snow began. Yes, SNOW!!! I was so excited! Within minutes of beginning, the trees were lightly dusted and the snow was sticking to the ground. Snowflakes swirled around us and then it got even heavier with the wind driving the snow sideways. It was great because the snow was so pretty and even heavy and it coated the ground and trees but the roads weren’t getting covered at all.

After Smokemont, we drove into Gatlinburg and had lunch at Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin. Oh my, such delicious pancakes AND biscuits. Almost like cake. Then we drove up to Pigeon Forge then back down to check out Elkmont, which closes very soon for the season. It also had very pretty sites on the river. We drove all the way out to the other campground that’s open all year, Cades Cove, but most of it was closed because of bear sightings!!!

Leaving Cades Cove, we had a choice of going north and hitting the highway or reversing our course and going back the way we came. We chose the latter because we wanted to try to get up to Clingman’s Dome now that the sun was out.

The nearer we got to the Clingman’s Dome turnoff, the lower the temperature went. The trees were so pretty. It was a winter wonderland—“wonderfully wintery,” as Katie called it when I described it. Tray says the trees looked this way because of ice fog. I don’t know why they were this way, but it was so magical to see. I hope the pictures do them justice.

A few years ago, I had this snowglobe that had a silver base and all that was inside was silvery trees with no leaves and the snow that would swirl around and land on the empty branches. That’s what this reminded me of.

The road got a bit slippery as we neared the summit at Clingman’s Dome and the temperature dropped to 19 degrees. Brrrrr.

On the way back through Maggie Valley, we saw the Cliffedge Roller Coaster at the old Ghost Town in the Sky amusement park, high above the city. I think it’s closed now. We also saw signs for Frog Jam and Jelly for sale. Well, I know there are some interesting dishes made famous by mountainfolk, but really? Then I started wondering about it—what it made of frog’s legs? Was it jelly-like?—yuck and double-yuck. Was it green? A neon green? See, I had it all imagined out. Turns out that Frog Jelly is so named because of the first letter of each of its four ingredients—Figs, Raspberries, Oranges, & Ginger. Whew…that was a close one.

Well, anyway, now that I have seen the beautiful snows here in my mountains so close to me, I can’t wait until we get snow here at our townhouse. Our living room is really magical already this year. For the first year in, well, FOREVER, I have talked Ray into putting up the tree early!!! I let him pick out the tree and the decorations and I must say that it is truly an amazing sight. When he kept adding and adding things to it, I got scared for a minute there, but when he turned on the tree lights, it sparkled just the way a tree always sparkled when you were a child and walked in to see it for the very first time. It almost made me cry, it was so beautiful. So now every night between now and how ever long I can talk him into keeping the tree up, I will have a magical sparkling sight to behond in my living room.

Pictures: "Snow etching" that Ray did on a sign beside the river; the Little River that we followed all day; a lone red leaf amongst the bare or green trees; group of leaves that seemed to just hang in the air; loved the colors in this one--green and white and sunshine. Bear with me because I had a hard time NOT choosing every single picture from today to post. : )

A Day Off--& a beautiful drive up the Parkway

Today was a fun day. We finally took some time to get out & see some of the blue Ridge Mountains instead of just being responsible and doing the chores of settling in.

We headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway—which is less than 3 miles from our townhouse—and found that the colors of the trees are still gorgeous, not as plentiful as before but now you can see the beautiful distant mountains clearly. And folks, there was snow on the road!!! Actually on the roads and on the roadsides. Very pretty. We drove up as far as Mount Mitchell and checked out the tent camping sites—excellent, by the way. Wished we could’ve just stayed right then.

The record high temp here was 81 degrees, the record low was -34! The average winter snowfall is 104 inches, but last year they got 144. The highest ever was 172.5 inches in 1997-98. The highest wind speed recorded was 178 mph.

After checking out the sites, we drove on up to the summit parking lot and hiked up to the observation tower. The path, too, was covered with ice and snow in places, but I managed not to do one of my famous flying half-twist/leaps to the ground. The summit of Mount Mitchell is the highest point in the US east of the Mississippi at 6684 feet. The views from here were so pretty. As we climbed up, we passed a guy carrying a guitar case. Once we reached the top, we could hear him playing and singing somewhere below. It was very pretty.

One of the prettiest sights I saw today were the abundant red berries on the Mountain Ash trees. There is an Ojibwa Legend about these berries:

In late autumn or winter one will see an entirely different kind of tree dotted here and there among the green pines and spruce. These are Mountain Ash trees covered in a mass of brilliant red berries. The more berries on the tree, the more severe the winter will be. Why is this so? Legend relates that many years ago, even before Canada had a name, a severe and terrible winter set in. Snowdrifts formed in great heights and temperatures dropped to extraordinary degrees below zero.
While in search of food, the Indian hunters became terrified when they came upon hundreds of birds and small animals lying dead on the frozen snow banks. Immediately they banded together in great numbers and offered prayers' to the Great Manitou, as they were frightened that the same evil spirits would destroy them also.
The Great-Spirit answered them by instructing them to take one drop of blood from every dead bird and small animal and smear it on the tree that meant life and death to their people. As the Mountain Ash was the tree whence they fashioned bows and arrows, their only means of survival, they chose it and set about as Manitou had made them do. The following morning every tree they had smeared bore thousands of berries. The birds and small animals that had survived were perched on the mountain Ash branches eating the life-giving food.
The happy Indians danced late into the night, giving thanks to Manitou, who in return gave his promise that whenever a cold winter was approaching again, he would cover these trees with food.

The trees were so beautiful, and if the number of berries is really indication of how cold this winter will be, I need to go buy some more warm clothing.

We drove through Weaverville to see what kind of area it was—very nice & out in the country. Then we headed back to Asheville and stopped at the Harbor Inn Restaurant to check out their food. Well, we have found a favorite seafood restaurant, that’s for sure. The place is obviously very popular with the locals as it was crowded, but we got a table right away and dined on the freshest tasting seafood I’ve had in a long time. Ray had the perch and baby shrimp & I had the cod & deviled crab combo. Both came with delicious hushpuppies (that would’ve been a meal in themselves) and baked potato and coleslaw. Usually I don’t like restaurant coleslaw, but this was so good. So not only did I have stuffed deviled crab—which I am allergic to—I also stole some of Ray’s baby shrimp—also allergic to it. But it was irresistibly delicious. And I haven’t starting itching or having hives yet and it’s been 4 hours, so I think I’m good. Service was excellent. Price was amazingly low. We will definitely be going back.

In conclusion, can I just tell you how very happy I am to be living so close to such beautiful sights. I am so proud of my new hometown.

Pictures from our drive.

More pictures from our Parkway Drive

I love the way the Smoky Mountains are "layered" in varying shades of blue. The last picture is of the trees as you enter our apartment complex.