July 22, was our last full day in the Great Smoky Mountains. Because today’s weather forecast had the most accommodating weather for decent views from Clingmans Dome, we planned that destination for today. It was perfect! At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and in all of Tennessee. It is the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi.
The views from Clingmans Dome tower observation deck can be spectacular. If you see misty blue-gray clouds they are naturally occurring clouds as a result of so much evaporating moisture. This haze is what gave the Smoky Mountains their name. However, if you see a whitish haze that limits your view, that is air pollution. Sulfate particles, mainly from coal-fired power plants, scatter sunlight and are the chief source of this local pollution. Today was a gorgeous day. It should be awesome, but you never know for sure till you are there.
The wide, but steep 1/2 mile path from the parking lot finally meets the curving concrete incline to the tower. It takes 30 minutes to walk from the top of the parking lot to the tower, but the views are worth every step!
On our way down the path towards the parking lot, we stopped off to walk a little on the Appalachian Trail! We can’t say we walked the Appalachian Trail, but we can say we walked on it at it’s highest point between Georgia and Maine!
Views heading down from the Clingmans Dome area.
We headed to Cades Cove (on the far edge of the park from here) hoping to see a bear. A ranger at Clingmans Dome told me that Cades Cove was the best place to see bear. Barry wasn’t very keen on making that long of a drive at this point, but acquiesced knowing how much it meant to me to see a bear. As he drove I kept watch, especially along the rivers in case a bear may be there.
I enjoyed all the river views along the road even if I didn’t see a bear near them.
We arrived at Cades Cove. Unfortunately, the ranger here told us that there hasn’t been any “bear activity” today due to the heat. Dang. Our attempt was a futile one. I was definitely disappointed, and now the drive “home”. Barry welcomed me as the relief driver.
Driving along I saw the official “Smoky Mountains National Park” sign on the opposite side of the road! I quickly pulled off. We jumped out, ran across the street to get a selfie. No one else was around. Selfies are great – until you need one that includes a sign with words! Crap! I grabbed some rocks to prop my phone up for a ten-second delay picture. Ten seconds is not a lot of time to push the button and run over into position without tripping over additional rocks, but I made it just fine.
Then we thought it would be fun to sit on the rock ledge under the sign. Now is when the laughter started…
Someone stopped, and took a couple pictures for us. One had the sign cut off on the right. The second one was nice, but I’m partial to our last selfie attempt above. We are definitely in the moment. I smile every time as I remember the laughter we shared getting that picture.
And with that we were back on the road. We’ve enjoyed the Smoky Mountains. Tomorrow we will be in Kentucky.