Mountains

[vaneramos]

Besides the friends I went to see, the one thing I wanted to do on the trip was see the Great Smoky Mountains. Years ago I had driven the Blue Ridge Parkway through Virginia, but never ventured as far south as the Smokies.

The second day I spent in Knoxville, Jason had to take his ESL class on a field trip, so he invited me along. Our destination happened to be Gatlinburg, clasped in the bosom of the Smokies, a town where my mother's parents used to vacation every summer. I didn't know whether any of the rest of my family had ever visited the place, so it seemed a worthwhile adventure, a tale to carry home.

There was nothing idyllic about Gatlinburg. The streets were swarming. Clots of sweaty people pressed into a wax museum, while a creepy Tom Cruise hovered motionlessly overhead. Blue and orange lights flickered along a dimly lit arcade. On such a hot day, I couldn't understand why the hotel pool stood empty; maybe it was the poisonous blue colour. This used to be modelled on a Swiss or German mountain village, but the ambiance is long faded. The mountains are barely visible except through meagre vistas, pressed between hotel towers. A chairlift tears a gaping scar.

But here's the thing. Jason could have taken me touring through Hell and I wouldn't have complained. In such enjoyable company, Gatlinburg was a gas.

The next day (Friday) was really the only one with time to myself. Besides seven hours of driving from Knoxville back to Pittsburgh, I had enough hours to spare for a side trip into the Smoky Mountains proper. I drove to the highest peak in the range, Clingman's Dome at 6,643 ft. (2,025 m). The peak was mostly shrouded in cloud (and what a strange sensation it was to ascend by footpath, and hear the spaciousness die around me as I mounted into that fog). Near the peak lay a bleeding meadow of Mondarda didyma, heavily populated by hummingbirds.

The dead trees in these photos are Fraser firs, Abies fraseri. A wingless insect, introduced accidentally from Europe, has wiped out about more than 90 per cent of the trees.

On Tuesday I went to the walk-in clinic complaining of a ringing ear, and it turns out I have an ear infection. Now, considering some trouble I've had with my jaw and ear recently, I suspect the infection has been hanging on for two months or more. Apparently my trip into the mountains, with the change in altitude, finally brought it to the fore. Now I'm on antibiotics again.

Comments

[champdaddy.livejournal.com]

Bergamot is not one of the more beautiful flowers, but its scent is one of my favorites.

Glad that you and Jason got together... I'm envious of you both.

[hankdmoose.livejournal.com]

The second photograph is really haunting. The black-and-white brings about an absolute bleakness that the dead and barren trees don't portray on their own. I'm not really sure how else to describe it.

I drove down to Asheville, NC almost exactly 2 years ago. It was my first trip out of the Midwest, and so my first time seeing anything like the Great Smokey Mountains. The greenness of the mountainsides and the denseness of the fog made for a very beautiful and surreal scene.

Unfortunately, the last half of the trip into Asheville was made less-than-pleasant by a torrential downpour which seemed to be following me everywhere I went. And by the time I left to head back to Illinois, I was too exhausted to stop and do any hiking or exploration. I hope to go back soon, as it is absolutely wonderful country.

[bixie.livejournal.com]

gatlinburg! I've been there, I know exactly the spots you're referencing. :>

my family visited the smoky mountains for the first time in...1989? 1990? I took a lot of photos. we drove up from gatlinburg (must have stayed in a hotel there). I'll see if I can find some. yours are lovely, though; the muted hills in the background of the first are just as I remember them. nice!

[bearfinch.livejournal.com]

I was at the smokey moutains earlier this year, there's a blue haze from all the rhododendrons there. It was beautiful but much colder than the lowlands.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Pretty or not, bergamot is one of my favourite wildflowers, so I was thrilled to see it growing wild for the first time. I guess its weirdness appeals to me, but so does its "Earl Grey" scent. Monarda fistulosa was the first wildflower I ever succeeded in growing from collected seed, so I hold the genus in nostalgic honour.
For the most part, I enjoyed driving immensely, and now that I've overcome my apprehension about crossing the border, I hope to travel more often, so I hope to meet you before long. That could be an alternate route when I revisit Atlanta or Tennessee. But you're really not too far, so perhaps a weekend trip just to see you would be feasible.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I've heard lots of good things about Asheville, and hope to include it in a future trip. By the way, that second picture is actually not in colour, but the cloud and shadow are almost monotone. It looks bleak as winter, but the day wasn't even cold.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Bruce. Between days of socializing, I was pleased to take one morning to myself, with a chance to explore and concentrate on my camera.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Smokies were strikingly beautiful, and Gatlinburg was entertaining! Did you find any of your photos of the place?

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I saw a lot of rhododendrons and mountain laurel in Georgia, but didn't notice as many on the one mountain I climbed in the Smokies. I wish I could have seen them in bloom.
The weather in the mountains was not at all cold the days I was there. With low altitude temperatures hovering near 100°F, the air in the mountains was much pleasanter, like one of Ontario's nicest summer days.