I'm Flying! : The Ledford-Smith Saga Pt.7

At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's highest point. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Only North Carolina's Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) rises higher. Isn't that fascinating! It was a beautiful place, as you can see in this photo, you can see he tops of the clouds from atop of Clingmans Dome. I've never flown but I imagine this would be your view. The wind was blowing, the air was crisp and it felt wonderful!

Apparently Clingmans Dome isn't a hidden wonder because everybody and there brother were there it seemed. We didn't hike to the observation tower, mainly because everyone was going and from the cars in the parking lot it would've had to be full. I just don't have the urge to climb a few 100 flights of stairs just to have the tower over load and tip over. After an hour or so of looking and shooting we decided to call it quits and see what wonders awaited us on the ride down the mountain.

For a Wednesday the mountain sure was full of people, we pulled off at a spot I remembered from when I was a kid and we're drive over the mountain. We'd always stop there and picnic, it's one of the prettiest spots along the mountain but nobody stops there. The whole hour we were there not one person bothered to stop. Not that I'm complaining I just can't believe how crazy people can be about such things.

It was such a beautiful place and we couldn't have stopped at a better time. The sun was just right and the rays of light were coming through the trees just like they should. The water on the creek was gleaming in the sunlight and there were colorful pops of fall in just the right places. It reminded me a bit of the movie Fern Gully, even though it was a cartoon, but just imagine it wasn't and that's what you'd have. The image on the right here is of the small creek that appears to have run over a log just long enough to hollow out the center. Now the water just flows right down through the tree itself. It was a well preserved bit of land, a genuine treasure that apparently goes unseen to tourists, I find that shocking considering it's about a hundred feet from the main road and even has its own parking lot.
Since we were there I thought best to keep tradition alive and have a bit of lunch, actually it was a banana and an apple we'd taken from the hotel but it was great all the same. This was our last real spot along the Mountain. I spent most of the ride down the mountain voicing my opinion of the drivers in front of me who insisted on riding there brakes and slamming them to a sudden stop at the sight of anything that remotely looked like a curve. The funny part was that all along the road there were signs every few miles stating the fact that you should put your car in a lower gear to avoid frying your brakes. Apparently that was too hard to them to understand, I did find out where the smoke from the "Smokey Mountains" comes from though, it's not fog or clouds, it's from the stupid peoples brakes who never learned how to drive!!!!

Come on back tomorrow when we finally wrap up this adventure and move on to another!