23 - Great Smoky Mountains, TN

Have you ever been interested in going to a place just based on its name? I've always wanted to see the Great Smoky Mountains even though I wasn't even sure where they were. The only things I knew about them was that it's where Dolly Parton comes from and Ronnie Milsap sang about them in the 80's. Why are they called Smoky Mountains? Is it home for banjo playing hillbillies? Will we see more bears???...

To satisfy my curiosity, and add another chapter in our adventures, we travelled to Tennessee, (okay, that answers one of my questions from above!). Driving to the National Park, we had to pass through Pigeon Forge (a mini Las Vegas type attraction) in order to get to our campground in Gatlinburg, a small mountain resort town at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We didn't frequent any of the attractions at Pigeon Forge but you sure can get an eyeful from the road, definitely something for everyone!

Stock photo of Titanic attraction

I wonder what the bathrooms are like in this place???

Wait...do you hear banjos playing???

An awful lot of detail/construction for just the outside of this attraction.

Another stock photo of a well stacked lady!



One of many roller coasters at Dollywood





Gatlinburg had a nice look to it. reminded me a lot of Banff, Canada (another ski/mountain resort in the Rockies, just outside Calgary). Unlike the Rocky Mountains, the Smokies are smaller and more rolling. They are covered in a carpet of greenery and sit under an almost permanent bluish haze which is how they received their name.

The Smokies are the top visited national park in the US.  We discovered that first hand when driving the scenic Cades Cove Loop Road. This auto tour takes you through 11 miles of historical settlement areas from the early 1800's. There are many places to stop and hike trails or visit the historical buildings further. Surprisingly the 11 mile loop takes a couple of hours given the speed (or lack thereof) of the drivers in front of you. It is mountain driving with lots of twisty turny roads, so hopefully type "A" husbands won't get too worked up over it!


BEAR SPOTTING:

Yes we did see another bear, it appeared in front of the car in front of us. The driver of the car pulled over to the shoulder on the left hand side as the bear ambled along the middle of the road for a few more steps. Just as we were passing the bear, it ran into the trees to it's left. As we continued driving, we noticed the driver of the pulled-over car got out with his camera and headed off into the forest in the direction of the bear....All we thought was; that's an adolescent bear, I wonder where momma bear is? 

The next day we hiked 2 short but rather steep trails, (Chimney Top  & Clingman's Dome Lookout), but the views were worth it.  By the end of our second day I had learned the Smokies, being part of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, are the oldest mountains in North America.  Being glacier and ice age free, (the glaciers stopped just North of them), the plant & animal ecosystem here is quite unique.  Initially the name Great Smoky Mountains was derived from the gasses released from plants in the park, creating a bluish tint haze. Today most of the haze we see is from air pollution, (unfortunately).

Walking up Clingman's Dome Lookout, the highest point and great views

Clingman's Dome Lookout, kind of looks like a matchbox racecar track!

After being cooped up in the trailer for the last couple of days, (dogs are not allowed on the Park's trails), we decided to visit, "America's sexiest city" as well as "America's most friendly city"....