Hadn’t snowed in the Smokies this early in 35 years
With the exception of one very notable highlight, which I’ll discuss in the next post, that was pretty much the story of the trip. Arrived at the park late Saturday afternoon, settled into Smokemont Campround then as we departed the campround, the Rangers were closing the gates to US 441, the main road into and across the park — as well as access to Clingmans Dome, which had been closed since the night before due to snow and ice. With no prospect of having the road opened before 10:00 AM the next day, our sunset and sunrise hopes were dashed by mother nature’s early arrival. But, having made the 8 hour drive, we came up with a backup plan and we planned to spend the next day around outskirts of the park and on a few trails that we could get to photographing streams and waterfalls. After a hot meal of broccoli-cheddar soup and chicken and a crisp cold evening around the campfire we settled into our sleeping bags to endure the predicted 25 degree low and hoping for a better day in the morning.
Up early on Sunday, we headed for Mingo Falls and other streams in the lower part of the park where the roads were now open.
Mingo Falls Just Outside of Smoky Mountains NP
It was a relatively productive morning. After lunch we decided to head up the main road and see how far we could get and managed to get far enough to get some decent shots of the snow on the peaks, but the hazy cloudy day prevented the full display of color, which, as our luck would have it, was about a week or so away from the peak color. But, again, we made the best of what we had presented before us.
Smoky Mountains Snow Covered Trees
With the temperatures plummeting into the low 30s and our poor fingers about too frozen to press the shutter release, we headed down to the campsite to decide what to do next. The mountain streams around the park are always appealing, so we hiked in to find some good spots. We found quite a few.
Smoky Mountain Stream 1
Smoky Mountains Stream - Different Perspective
Having been told by the Park Ranger, who now had closed the road for the evening, that it might reopen around 10:00 AM the next day, we made the decision to break camp and head home with what pictures we had. I will return soon.
