Fall in the Smokies, Part 1

I had planned to leave for my vacation straight from work but because the apartment office was closed at lunch when I went to pick it up the lens I rented from BorrowLenses.com, I had to wait until after work to pick it up.  I Finally headed to the Smokies for my vacation.  Yes, I came back from the third time in a year.  Traffic in Conway was fun like always.  I was hoping I would arrive when fall colors were at peak but unfortunately, lowest elevations are still quite green.

For my first full day in the Smokies I had originally decided to head to Newfound Gap overlook for sunrise then Alum Cave Bluffs but I was lazy this morning and decided just to head to the Bluffs.  Alum Cave Bluffs is a very popular hike off Newfound Gap so best to get their early to find a parking space. It was a balmy 33 degrees so I was wearing a fleece jacket over sweatshirt and long sleeve tee shirt. The Alum Cave Bluffs trail is 4.6 miles with an elevation difference of 1,145 feet. The good news is its uphill to the Bluff so downhill coming back.  On the trip up, I came across quite a few photo opportunities of raging water but as I started this hike before sunrise, I decided to wait until my trip back.  I am not as in good shape as I would like to be and had to take a few breaks.  Other than that, the hike was going well until I got to the Arch which is a series of steep, narrow steps going through mountain arch.  I was fine going up but was very nervous about the return trip. I do not handle heights well. The photo on the left is a bridge leading to the Arch.  I also stupidly didn’t bring two things I needed, water and my sunglasses.  A nice guy I met on the trail gave me a water and I had to deal with not having my sunglasses until I got back to my car. 

On the way back down the trail, I stopped at multiple spots to take photographs of little waterfalls in the river.  I started the hike around 7:30 and finished around 11:30.  My next stop was Sugarlands Visitor Center.  I think everyone decided at this time to stop there, the place was packed. 

I then headed into Pigeon Forge for lunch.  My first thought was the Old Mill (I want to get photos of it) but it was also packed (recurring theme in October in and near Great Smoky Mountains National Park). As I was driving, I saw Lil Black Bear Cafe.  Small little hole in the wall place but cheeseburger was very good.  As I was waiting for my burger, I edited a few of the photos from the hike to Alum and posted one to Facebook.

This blog post was longer than I expected so I will continue the day in the next blog.  

Cathie and Tim’s SC Excellent Adventure Part 2

Cathie and Tim’s Excellent SC Adventure Part 2 starts with us getting breakfast at Eggs Up Grill in Myrtle Beach before heading to Charleston for the day.  On the way to Charleston, we stopped by the old haunted mansion to take some photos since Tim hadn’t been there before.  (it is directly across highway 17 from the road you turn on to go to Hampton Plantation).  Someone else was there and told us that the land had been sold. Hopefully they won’t tear down the old house, many photographers shoot that house.  

Our next two stops were stops so I could get stamps in my National Parks Passport, Charles Pinckney National Historic Site and Fort Moultrie (which is part of Fort Sumter National Monument).  At Fort Moultrie a park ranger told me that Charles Pinckney wasn’t a true national park which I pointed out that it had its own place in the passport unlike Fort Moultrie.  His response "I never said this was a true site and I normally work at Fort Sumter."

Our first photography stop was Drayton Hall. Before our tour of the house, we walked the grounds and took photos of the house.  Tim continued his fascination with oak trees and took some photos of the beautiful oak trees on the grounds. I normally just incorporate them into my shots like the photo above where the house is framed with the branch from the tree.

After stopping for lunch, we headed to Edisto Beach State Park so I could get a stamp in my SC State Parks book (6 down, 39 to go). I am not keeping track of the National Parks because there are 417, I doubt I will be able to get them all but I will certainly try. 

We then headed to Folly Beach to take photos of the Morris Island Light House.  The waves were huge and it was very windy, found out once we left it was because there was a storm in the Atlantic making its way to our coast.  

We stopped at Smoky Oak Taproom for dinner and then headed back home. Unfortunately it was on this trip that I somehow managed to shatter the LCD screen on the D300s which is going to cost $250 to fix. 

Return to the Smokies Day Four.

The day did not start out well.  Tim woke up feeling even worse and Mother Nature decided to be her sadistic self.  It was overcast when I woke up but it wasn’t long before the skies opened up and it started to pour.  I spent the morning editing a few photos and writing the blog posts for the previous three days.  I don’t have a working laptop so I’m using mobile LR and Photoshop on my IPad Pro for editing and also writing the blog posts.  Unfortunately the box for the blog posts is only so big and once you get past that you can’t see your words so all my blogs will have to be finished once I get home and have access to my iMac.  As the day progressed I could feel a cold coming on.  Not surprising considering how much time Tim and I spent together.

We decided to grab lunch at A&W and then head to the park since it looked like there might be a break in the weather.  See comment about sadistic Mother Nature.  Best laid plans.  It started to pour as soon as we arrived at the restaurant.  I haven’t been to an A&W since I was a kid and I’ve always loved their root beer.  I even bought an official A&W mug, I ordered the small one (shot size) but she rang up the largest one. Since she needed a manager to void the order, I told her not to worry about it and just took the large one. 

After lunch there were still thick clouds over the mountains that we couldn’t see them so we headed back to the hotel where I did more editing.

The storms finally cleared around 4pm so we headed to Roaring Fork Nature Trail for our final photo outing together.  Part of the road is rough for someone who is deathly afraid of heights.  I was getting very nervous on the narrow one way road which has a steep drop off just past the asphalt and since we took my car and Tim doesn’t know how to drive a manual transmission, I had to drive. Since neither Tim nor I were feeling up to it we opted out of both the Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls hikes.  They are definitely on the list for the next trip but Tim will be driving next to time so I can feel safe on the inside part of the road.  We stopped and took more photos of the flowing river because neither of us just don’t have enough long exposure river shots from this trip. We also stopped at the old mill.

We stopped at a wood fired pizza place on the way back to the hotel.

 Return to the Smokies Day Three

Finally our first full day of sun.  We decided to head back to Cade’s Cove to shoot Sparks Lane and then head into Townsend to get breakfast. Sparks Lane was open to traffic which made get photos of the road fun because we kept having to move to the side to let the cars pass. Its a very popular road.  We met Joseph Rossbach who was doing a seminar with a nice couple from Germany.

One of the vehicles that we moved out of the way for stopped down the road so they could take photos but the ruined our shots. While we were waiting, I wandered into the mist covered field and took photos of and dew covered spiderwebs.  I wandered down the road because I had seen some deer crossing but they were on the other side of the stream covered lane and I wasn’t going to get my running shoes soaked.  I asked the driver how long he would be because we wanted to take photos and his response was "don’t you guys have photoshop?"  I love inconsiderate people. He eventually did leave.  

Instead of heading to Townsend for breakfast, Tim wanted to stop by Sugarlands Visitor Center to pick up a collectible Great Smoky Mountains National Park poster he had seen on our other stops into the center. On the way out of the park, we pulled off to take photos of the river.  I think we’ve been there at least 4 or 5 times.  Since we were closer to Gatlinburg than Townsend, we decided to head to Pigeon Forge for breakfast which was quickly turning into brunch. 

We planned to go to Flapjacks Pancake house which we bothered remembered was on the right side of the road.  We still didn’t see it when we got to Sevierville so we turned around and headed to the IHOP we saw.  Flapjacks in Pigeon Forge was on the opposite side of the road, the one we were both thinking was in Sevierville and we just hadn’t gone far enough.  Oops. 

We then headed back to the park. We headed toward Elkmont campground to hike Jake Creek trail hoping it would have some thick foliage to filter the harsh sunlight. Only problem was the trail was closed at Cucumber Gap Trail so we took a few photos of the small stream near the parking lot and then headed back to the hotel because Tim wasn’t feeling well.

Our last photo excursion of the day was heading up to Morton Overlook in Newfound Gap to get the sunset.  Tim was thrilled to see Tony Sweet who’s workshop he attended in the Badlands.  I had a little trouble with my exposure but as you can see, I think the photos out ok.

Another great day in the Smokies.  

Return to the Smokies Day Two was supposed to be the first full day of sunshine but we are talking about Mother Nature and add the Great Smoky Mountains in and it does not always happen that way. It didn’t rain though and clouds can make for some dramatic photos.

It was my turn to drive.  Our first stop was Laurel Falls.  We parked in the parking lot, grabbed our gear and started the 2.6 mile round trip hike up the mountain. The good news is it is almost totally up hill to the falls so its downhill back to the parking lot.  The path is paved but not always in the greatest shape in a few spots.  The trail comes to a bridge that cuts the waterfall in half.  We set up our tripods on the rocks and took photos keeping in mind that edge was not very far.  Both Tim and I took photos for tourists and had one of them return the favor and take one photo of us.  The first photo that we are both in facing the camera.  Neither of us like getting our photos taken.

After we finished taking photos, we decided to hike down the rocky trail to the bottom of the falls.  It was slippery and not easy to navigate but we made it down but not before scraping my calf which I would repeat climbing back up.  We took many photos of the lower falls.  Laurel Falls is popular so there will be quite a bit of editing to do on these photographs since many hikers decided to wear bright neon colors and stand in the way when I’m taking the photo. The nerve of some people.

We planned to head to Roaring Fork Nature Trail for our next destination but instead of heading toward Gatlinburg where the entrance is, we turned onto Newfound Gap.   We could have done the hike to Alum Cave Bluffs but the parking lot was overflowing and neither of us are a big fan of crowds. Chimney Tops was closed so we decided to go to Clingman’s Dome.  We were both a little sore and tired from the hike to Laurel Falls but how hard can a half a mile hike be. Famous last words. 

We passed a few scenic overlooks that we planned on stopping at on the way back down the mountain.  After I parked my car, we took some photos from the edge of the parking lot and then headed to make the hike to the observation tower.  The hike is relatively short but because of the steep incline, the NPS rates the hike as strenuous and believe me it is but the view from the top is well worth the hike.

The driving trip down the mountain was fun for me as the road has a lot of twists and turns but I don’t think Tim felt the same way.  It probably wasn’t a lot of fun for a passenger.

Our last trek for the day was down Greenbrier Road which runs along the Little Pigeon River.  Another great area to capture photos.  Ramsey Cascades Falls is off this road unfortunately it was closed due to a bridge being out.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Burger Barn for dinner.  All in all this was an amazing and tiring day.  

My Return to the Smokies Day One.

Tim and I decided to take one of our trips together to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I fell in love with the park when I visited last year.  The first full day in the Smokies was an experience.  In all fairness, everyday in the Smokies is an experience.  

Our original plan before we set out was to go to Cade’s Cove to shoot Sparks Lane first thing in the morning because fog had set in and due to the fact that Cade’s Cove is in a valley, it could make for some great photos.  We then planned to head to the Knoxville Zoo and because of the weather was forecasting rain in the afternoon, we planned on going to a distillery and then maybe the Alcatraz East Crime Museum.

How our day actually went was almost completely different.  Luckily even though it was overcast all day, it never actually rained.  We headed to Cade’s Cove like we planned but things went a little sideways once we entered the park and headed there.  The road to the Cove was closed. We pulled into the parking lot at Metcalf Bottoms.  We walked a little down the road but didn’t see anything and decided to turn around because Cade’s Cove was still 8 miles away.

Like many places in the park, a river flows right by the road and since they’ve had a lot of rain, the river was raging.  It also has a lot of large boulders so it makes for some great long exposure photographs.

The first thing we took photos of was the closed road.  The road runs through the mountains with dense foliage and with the fog it made for some dramatic photos.  We then moved to a bridge over the river which we kept having to move off because its one lane and cars kept coming.  I eventually moved down to the river banks to get some photos.  I finally saw a Park Ranger truck approaching and I flagged him down which is when I found out that there was a tree in the road but more importantly there was another way to get to the Cove which was definitely the scenic route.  It took us through Townsend, TN then back into the park.  We first stopped at the Cades Cove store and picked up a few souvenirs.  We then headed over to Sparks Lane to get some shot.  Our next stop was John Oliver’s Cabin.I took a few photos and then wandered in the woods behind the cabin and took a few photos of a stream while Tim was taking his shots.  Once we got back to the car, Tim decided to take some photos of the mountains.  We didn’t leave the parking lot for like 20 minutes because Tim was waiting for a raptor that was flying overhead to fly into his shot.  It never did.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a patient person.  I was tempted to run him over with the car.  We were finally on our way.  Our next stop was John Cable Grist Mill.  Like the cabin, I wondered into the woods while Tim was shooting the barn behind the Mill.  I saw movement of a large animal.  Unfortunately it wasn’t a bear, it was a few deer.  I turned to head back when I saw three does nearby.  Tim soon joined me and we took quite a few photos.

 We stopped at Cades Cove store to grab a quick bite to eat and then headed over to Tremont Road which has the Mid Prong Little River flowing along side the road where there are many places to pull over to and take photos including waterfalls as you can see on the photo.

We stopped off at Corky’s BBQ for dinner and then headed back to the hotel.  It was a great first day.