Smoky Mountains, TN/NC
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These are some various photos from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
I have always loved hiking in these mountains. One of my favorite photos is of the shelter on Mount Kephart. It is also known as Ice Water Springs Shelter. I was working my way out to Charlie's Bunion on this snowy day. I was the first person on the trail after fresh snow and got some great snow photos that day. The perfect day... the perfect photo.
Click here for a larger 361 kb version.
These photos are high resolution scans of slide photography.
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I passed the shelter and kept heading down the trail. As I approached Masa Knob, a big gust of wind blew snow off of the trees and I grabbed my camera and started snapping photos.
Pretty crazy cool looking.
The "whoosh" of snow created a great effect.
Click here to see a very large 297 kb version of the photo above. |
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As I continued down the trail toward this outcropping I got another great shot right as you reach Charlie's Bunion. I moved a little off the trail down the hill a bit to get a much of the rocks as possible. Beautiful.
Once again, click here for a large 192 kb version. |
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| Before you get to Kephart Ice Water Springs Shelter shown above, you must go past a trail intersection known as "The Junction". If you click on this large version (446 kb) you can see incredible detail in the sign and the snow! |
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On the way back I got this great shot of Chimney Tops off in the distance. It was a fun day out hiking. Not too bad of a photo shooting slide film using an old Canon T-100.
Snow Drift Below! |
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Chimney Tops Trail
An enlargement of the main
peak is below, with a person in view. |
A famous destination in the Smoky Mountains, this 2-mile trail will test your will to get to the top of the mountain. The view once you get there is remarkable. The trail is very steep for most of the climb. Mountain laurel and rhododendron abound on this natural heath bald. I was lucky enough to get these pictures during spring.
It is a twin peak, and this photo is from the smaller peak looking to the main peak that has a natural chimney formation within it.
NOTE: I do not think you are allowed to hike to this area anymore. We did these hikes in the 1990's when the old manway was open leading up the steep, smaller peak. Once on the smaller peak, you traverse the narrow saddle you can see in the picture. There is a tough rock to climb right at the top of the other peak. They closed the area I assume because people fell there. It was a tough little wiggle down the rock, and we climbed it going both ways depending on which way we climbed up the mountain. We went up one way and down the other. |
The second, smaller summit can be seen below viewed from the main summit.
There was a small trail next to the rocks going over to the other summit.
This is a view of the loop from the top of Chimney Tops.
This is the view from the road as you come up the mountain from Gatlinburg.
The smaller peak is to the left. The one with the chimney is on the right.
This photo below is another favorite.
Near the trail head in the early morning with about 5 inches of fresh snow.
Duck Hawk Rock Ridge Line
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This is an area that is off of the Alum Cave Trail that leads to Mt. LeConte. This area is temporarily closed to hiking from time to time due to Peregrine Falcon nesting but was very fun to hike out to. It has some interesting rock formations and shear face walls.
As you turn a corner on the trail just before you get to Alum Cave Bluff you are rewarded with the view to the left. Two of three keyholes can be seen.
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The photos of Mark and me are taken in the keyhole on the far left in the picture below. The keyhole on the right is virtually inaccessible. There is another one about halfway in between that is also tough to get to. At one point you have to run across the narrow rock wall over one of the keyholes. Some snow!
The photos below shows the keyholes in better detail. The one we are in on the far left.
If you look just to the left of center you can see a keyhole in the rock face.
I took the photos below in the saddle in the dead center of the photo above. What a place!
There is nothing like a good day in the woods. Ignore your cell phone and relax.
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