The Other Scenes of the Smoky Mountains

 I came to this part of the country because I wanted to get away an experience mountains. Most of the week there was spent driving up the mountain, hiking around, and seeing all the view points we could. One of my favorite things was getting up early to watch the sun rise over these misty mountains. I never get sick of watching the sun rise.

I didn't keep track of what trails we did, what roads we took, or what lookouts we stopped at. All I know is we drove through the area many times, never disappointed by what we saw. So here are a few more of my favorite picks from this gorgeous part of the world. I can't wait to go back. And from Austin Texas it's only a 16 hour drive there. Very doable considering how big Texas is.

The Waterfalls of the Smoky Mountains

 I love waterfalls. Any hike that ends in a waterfall, or has waterfalls along the way, is a hike I want to do. Through in some mountain streams, rivers, anything with moving water and I am in. I love it. I love the sound of the water, the things that surround the water, everything. I'm obsessed. Not much else I can say, but enjoy all the waterfall pictures I could take. 

The Animals of the Smoky Mountains

 Part of the fun of being in the mountains is seeing all the animals you don't really get to see in every day life. Of course we saw plenty of squirrels and birds. Actually, while horseback riding, Justin had just finished telling me about how squirrels will through things at you on occasion. Not long after, he got hit in the head with an acorn that a squirrel threw at him. I laughed pretty hard. He suffered a small bump on the head. What are the odds?

Apart from the standard wildlife, we hadn't really seen much of anything else. We did see a wolf run across the road in the early morning, saw a few wild pigs, and of course there are lots of birds and wild turkeys. But we wanted to see elk and black bears. Those are pretty standard things to see in this part of the world.

All week long we hadn't run across any of these animals we wanted to see. The last day of the trip we were hoping to see animals. We drove up to the New Found Gap - this is a great lookout point for a stunning view of the mountains. It's also on the Tennessee - North Carolina state line, and has bathrooms. We drove up in the morning to enjoy the view, and then decided to take advantage of the bathrooms.

 You walk a few hundred yards along a trail to get to the bathrooms. I noticed a man standing on the trail looking into the trees. He pointed out there was a small black bear, about 10 feet away from us. I was shocked. 

They were completely silent, eating breakfast without a sound. I used my great zoom lens camera to take as many pictures as I dared, before moving along and putting some distance between myself and the bear. He was not concerned by the three of us on-lookers, but was engrossed with getting some breakfast. I would not want to tangle with one in the wild, but they are sure beautiful. Especially in the foggy mysterious morning time. That was exciting.

We then took a drive on a separate road that led into North Carolina. There was this beautiful meadow, and in the meadow were herds of elk. It was so pretty. We took a lot of pictures, and then were able to pull into a parking lot of a visitor center right on the edge of this meadow and really get some close up pictures of these amazing animals. They are so beautiful at the base of a mountain.

In the same field were a few butterflies posing on some lovely wildflowers. I have a really good zoom lens camera and has some more fun taking butterfly pictures. It was a great last day to get in all the wildlife.