Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2022, Part II

A couple of hours into my hike to Charlies Bunion, and my longest trek of my road trip was going really well.  I felt strong at the midpoint, and I was making good time.

Alas, I was not to have exactly the dramatic vista I was hoping for at the overlook.  The Great Smoky Mountains were living up to their name this day, and the smoke was thick.

The bunion itself is an interesting landmark, rising starkly from the lush landscape.  There were many small, gray birds there looking for handouts, but none were interested in sitting still long enough for a picture.

The return hike was all about capturing the flowers.  The bright overcast conditions were perfect for photographing this Hollow Joe-Pye Weed ...

... and another Turk's-cap Lily ...

... and ANOTHER Turk's-cap Lily.  Seriously, they were really gorgeous.

Many of the blossoms stood out strikingly from their dark backgrounds, like this Cutleaf Coneflower.

I really wasn't familiar with Ghost Pipe before this hike.  I wasn't even sure if they were plants or fungus or what.  But they were creepy and compelling.

Speaking of creepy and compelling, the "smoke" had settled into some lower parts of the trail.  So an atmospheric shot was the proper response.

Great hike to end that phase of my road trip.  Eight miles in four hours -- perfect pacing.  A long drive to Memphis still awaited me, but I was recharged and ready for the rest of my summer.

Now it's been two months, and I need another hike!

Related Links:

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2022, Part I
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Grotto Falls

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2022, Part I

On my summer road trip two years ago, Great Smoky Mountains National Park was easily the highlight.  It was unlike any place I'd ever seen, almost impossibly green and lush.  Its waterfalls were stunning.  Its giant rhododendrons were marvelous.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to have the chance to visit again.

I got in later than expected, playing cat-and-mouse with heavy rainstorms throughout the afternoon.  After checking in at my campground, I barely made it to the Clingmans Dome trailhead in time to start my planned hike to Andrews Bald in time to make it before sunset.

Alas, the storms meant clouds which meant that even though I reached Andrews Bald in time, there was no sunset to be seen.

I waited as twilight fell and the clouds became fog, then stumbled back to my car through the mist and darkness.  I had a headlamp, so I was safe.  Covered the three-and-a-half miles in less than an hour and a half.  But it was still plenty late by the time I got back to the campground and called it a night.

I had plans to make it to Memphis by the following evening, but not before I got in one last hike.  Charlies Bunion was the destination, Newfound Gap was the starting point, and conditions were absolutely gorgeous.

The morning sun was filtering through the trees just enough to spotlight these Ghost Pipe.

Soon enough the sun was doing more than just filtering, but the think trees and cool temperatures made me feel like I could hike all day.

The higher I climbed, the more Turk's-cap Lilies I came across.

AllTrails and MapMyWalk combined to give me perfect updates on my progress, and soon enough I was at the offshoot to Charlies Bunion.

More to come!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Ramsey Cascades

After starting with a thee-mile stretch of the legs to Grotto Falls and back on my first day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I decided to raise the bar with a more demanding hike on Day 2. The Ramsey Cascades Trail is 8.1 miles round-trip and gains more than 2,200 feet of elevation, with the tallest waterfall in the park for a payoff. I'd done hikes that gained more than 3,000 feet over the same distance in Colorado and Alaska, so I figured this would be a cinch.

Not so much.

The vegetation along the trail is again incredibly dense and lush.  You know what it takes for that?  Moisture.  Lots of moisture.  Half a mile in, I was already drenched with sweat.

One spot along the Ramsey Prong had several little cairns set up, and I don't know why other than for decoration.  They weren't needed to mark the trail.

Even small cascades like this one can look stunning.  I wish I had a little action figure I could have staged in the shot somewhere to give the illusion of scale, but another problem I had on the hike was that I was carrying far too much weight -- two cameras, a tripod, and a backpack full of just-in-case accessories.

Where there is moisture, there is fungus.  Psathyrella piluliformis in this case, if iNaturalist is to be believed.

The good news after an unexpected struggle was that the juice was worth the squeeze.  The falls are gorgeous.

I love getting the lacy effect of flowing water, but with these falls I also enjoyed zooming in on small portions and freezing the action.

After overcast skies when I arrived, the sun came out and gave the falls enough of a different look for me to want to shoot them again.

And another freeze of the action was also in order.

I gave myself a nice 30-minute rest at the falls before heading back downhill.  On the return journey I focused more on sights like the ubiquitous Great Rhododendrons.

You know what else likes moist conditions?  Moss.  You know what didn't care for the humidity?  Me.  Even on the downhill trek I was constantly mopping my brow.

There were a pair of creek crossings over these log-and-one-railing bridges, which weren't as precarious as it might appear.

I could probably put together a coffee table book of nothing but Great Rhododenrons after just two days in the park.

MapMyWalk says I covered 8.32 miles in just under five hours (not counting the rest break at the falls), burning a solid 932 calories in the process.  With hikes of comparable length planned over each of the next two days, I knew I was going to have to re-think some things to give myself a slightly easier time!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Clingmans Dome Sunrise

I knew exactly where I wanted to shoot sunrise in Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- Clingmans Dome.  The new photographer friend I made at Morton Overlook the previous night validated my decision.  He advised against making the half-mile walk to the top of the observation tower, recommending instead setting up at the far end of the parking lot.  So again, I followed his suggestion.

Like I said before, it's hard to go wrong when you follow the advice of a local.  I was there early enough to get the pre-dawn shot I'd visualized in my mind -- rows of shadowy mountain ridges against a colorful sky.

To the east, some of the area's namesake "smoke" was rolling up and over the mountains.

What I originally thought was a lake to the south turned out to also be "smoke" -- or rather, a valley full of fog.

The colors in the sky were not fading as quickly as I had thought they might.  Plenty of time for a more panoramic take on those ridges.

The actual sunrise came gently -- almost meekly.  This three-image HDR blend makes the sky much more vivid than it actually was in person.  I actually had to reduce the vibrance and saturation in Lightroom to something a little less "hyperreal."

I'd been fussing with my circular polarizer that morning and the previous evening, blaming it for unwanted lens flares in some of my shots. So I took it off when I left, but then pulled over to take another crack at the clouds that were continuing to pour in.  I did get less lens flare, but I also got some pretty bland color.  So after a thorough cleaning, back on the camera the polarizer went. :)

A rewarding half an hour to be sure.  I even got to see Comet Neowise, which I mistakenly thought was Venus until a nice stargazer gently corrected me.  All of this before 7 a.m., no less!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Morton Overlook Sunset

My National Parks road trip was off to a glorious start, with a relaxing drive around the Cades Cove Road Loop and a nice introductory hike to Grotto Falls. All that remained was to shoot the sunset before heading to my campground, and from my research it seemed like Newfound Gap was the spot.

As I was headed to Newfound Gap I was struck by this view from an overlook.  Having plenty of time before sunset, I decided to pull over and get the shot.

While there I struck up a conversation with another photographer, and when I told him I was headed to Newfound Gap for sunset he strongly discouraged this idea.  This was the spot, he insisted.  Morton Overlook.  I'd actually also read about Morton Overlook and didn't realize that was where I was!

I've learned to almost always take the advice of locals when making decisions about where to shoot, so I happily agreed to stay.  The clouds were making it look like a breathtaking sunset was inevitable.

Funny thing about clouds -- they move around quite a bit.  As sunset approached, the clouds had congealed into a rather dense mass with only a thin line of sky visible between them and the horizon.

God rays came and went in the distance, providing some hopeful moments.

As the sun prepared to peek out from below the clouds, the ridges lit up with the most glorious shades of pink and purple.

The color faded quickly, and was practically gone before the sun hit the actual horizon.  In fact, nothing from this moment on was all that visually special.  But those fleeting moments of rosy brilliance were a completely unique experience.  And I made a new Facebook friend!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Grotto Falls

My time in Colorado spoiled me when it comes to hiking. I came to expect every hike to have some sort of payoff, be that a waterfall, an alpine lake, a mountain summit, or something else with the ability to take your breath away simply by seeing it.

I did a lot of research before my road trip on the hiking trails in the National Parks I was visiting, and not surprisingly found a dearth of alpine lakes.  There were a handful of mountain summits.  What the parks do have in abundance are waterfalls.  And since flowing water is one of my favorite things to photograph, that suited me just fine.

First up: Grotto Falls

Great Rhododendrons were in bloom all over the park.  I didn't know exactly what they were until I plugged some of my pictures into iNaturalist, but I certainly enjoyed shooting them.

I've never been overwhelmed by a color like I was by the green in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Trees, bushes, vines, flowers, even moss growing on fallen logs.  And a seemingly infinite variety of shades.

I enjoyed catching sight of Great Rhododendrons that hadn't fully blossomed yet, with the tips of their buds a vibrant pink.

About the only thing that wasn't green on the trail was the actual trail, which was well-traveled and only occasionally broken by roots or rocks.

The falls themselves were quite crowded, being less than a mile and a half walk.  Since I was in no particular rush, I was happy to set up, compose my shot, and just wait for breaks in the activity.

The illusion of being all alone in places like this affects my own memories when I review my pictures, making me feel like I might just have been the only soul around.

There was no denying the Mt. LeConte llama train  when it came through!  I'd hoped to see them, but since they only make three trips each week to LeConte Lodge I doubted I would.  I was so taken aback when they came down the trail that I almost forgot to take any pictures of them!  Fortunately, I was able to capture this moment of the wrangler carefully leading the train behind the falls.

I had more difficulty finding a moment to get a wide-angle shot of the falls.  Other visitors were actually very kind about giving me a direct view of the actual waterfall, but didn't realize how much "empty space" I was looking for to either side to get this particular scene.  I finally implored everyone to give me 30 seconds for this picture, and they graciously did.

One more blossom spotlighted by late afternoon sun on my hike back to my car, and that was that.

According to my MapMyWalk app, I somehow managed to cover 3.73 miles on a hike that's only supposed to be 2.6 miles out and back.  I didn't think I'd fussed and fidgeted that much while composing my various photos, but I'm not sure how else to explain all the extra mileage.  It took me more than two hours and 20 minutes, including a lengthy stay at the actual falls.  The app gives me other interesting details, like that I took 12,600 steps, climbed 671 feet, and burned 432 calories.  It's a good thing hiking has so many other benefits, because burning just 432 calories for that effort makes it clear that hiking is simply not a weight loss regimen in and of itself!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Cades Cove

Two summers ago, I took an epic solo road trip to five National Parks I'd never visited before. It was such an amazing experience that I made plans back in February to do something even bigger and better this summer.  Then COVID-19 happened, and it looked like I might need to scrap the whole idea.

But wait... there's nothing particularly challenging about maintaining social distance when hiking and camping.  Wearing a mask in visitor centers is no different than wearing one at the grocery store.  And as much as I enjoyed eating in brewpubs and getting drinks at coffee shops last time, I could sacrifice that for drive-throughs and meals in the car.  So the plans got modified, and the road trip was back on!

First stop -- Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I've truly never seen anything like GSMNP.  The lushness and density of the vegetation just completely overwhelms and envelops you.  Not two minutes after driving into the park this gorgeous cascade just popped up on the side of the road.  I didn't even notice a sign and don't believe it has a name.  THAT'S HOW COMMON THIS TYPE OF SCENERY IS.

One landscape orientation, one portrait orientation, and move along.

I wanted to start by shooting Cable Mill -- a grist mill built in 1867 that's still operational.  But I'd been warned that the one-way, 11-mile loop road there can take hours to get through on busy summer days, like the one I was there.  I thought for some reason I could get to the mill without taking the loop road, but discovered that was not the case once I was well and truly stuck on said road.  Inevitably I became caught in a bear jam, but that at least gave me the opportunity to capture this American Crow on a fence post from the comfort of my RAV4.

 

I was delighted to also see this Pileated Woodpecker, a bird I'd only seen on a couple of other occasions!

The bear jam eventually broke up, and the bear who caused it was sadly out of sight by the time I got to where it had been spotted.  So I delayed my own progress by stopping at a beautiful overlook of the valley.

Eventually I reached the mill and got the shots I had visualized in my mind.

The wheel was actually turning when I first arrived, then a volunteer came by to turn it off.  He was gracious enough to ask if that would affect my photos, which I appreciated.  Carrying a tripod gives one a certain credibility. :)

The barn on the premises had some cool old farm machinery.  I purposely left the shadows dark to reinforce the abandoned feeling the place has.

I have not converted these last two shots to sepia tone.  Everything is just honestly that brown!

The whole barn for context.  I read that it was moved from another location, which must have been quite an undertaking.

Continuing my drive I came across a Wild Turkey strutting her stuff along the roadside.  The loop road has a number of other historical structures, but those have never really been my jam.  I was there for the wildlife and scenery, and felt like I was off to an auspicious start!