Cades Cove in the heat of the summer

 We went to Cades Cove Sunday.  It was HOT, so not too many animals out and about.  The flowers were pretty.  First we saw some gladiolus in the edge of the woods.  The trees are growing up so that they don't bloom as well as they would out in the open.  This one looks so delicate.

 The Rosebay Rhododendron was in full bloom all along the highways especially next to the streams. 

 And there ARE bears in the cove too.

 This is the waterfall when you first leave the Townsend Y, headed toward Cades Cove.

It was nice that Jimmy could take a day off for us to just be together.

Cades Cove Turkey in the GSMNP

This turkey is safe from hunters because he is at Cades Cove,

in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

He did puff up a little for me, but not as much as I would have liked him to.

He finally decided he didn't want to show off for me at all.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families!!

Morning Light at Cades Cove

Times like this is when I can feel God all around me.

These were taken within 5 minutes of each other in the picnic

area of Cades Cove, October 29, 2009.

I have already made them into greeting cards,

you can check the greeting cards out by clicking here and here.

Newfound Gap - Fall 2008

These fall color photographs were taken October 2008.

This year I returned to Newfound Gap, one year and one day later. The leaves were gone. The bright colored tree above had no leaves. The Gap had snow about 8 - 10 days earlier, and my speculation is that the snow brought the leaves down. Two weeks later I was at Campbell Overlook (a mile or so down the mountain toward Gatlinburg) and the leaves were the prettiest I have ever seen there. Kind of supports my snow theory for the top.

These were taken at sunrise. When I go for the fall colors, I want to be there when the sun comes up, sometimes arriving while it is still pitch black.

I hate that the Gap didn't show these gorgeous colors again this year,

but there is always next year.

Streams with fall colors in the GSMNP

Jimmy and I took 2 days off to go to the mountains to see the fall colors, the previous post is the beginning of the photographs I took. The first day we went to Cades Cove, which I have not begun to go through those photographs yet. To get to Cades Cove from our house we go through Wears Valley to Townsend and onto Cades Cove. The 2nd day we also went through Wears Valley, but then we went across the Foothills Parkway to 129. 129 is known as the Tail of the Dragon, which we traveled to Deal's Gap, and onto Fontana and Cherokee. Normally we would have gone to I40 to head home, but with the landslide totally blocking I40 we cut back across the mountain through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

If we had gone our usual route we would not have seen this beautiful setting.

We saw 2 tractor trailers and a tractor without the trailer that thought they would also cut through the park to avoid going the detour route. The park rangers had them all stopped. A person cannot miss the signs about no commercial vehicles in the park, and you know a truck driver would not have missed them. Guess they thought they would just sneak through, like nobody would notice the only tractor trailers to ever be in the park in the 75 years of it's existence.

White Wildflowers in GSMNP

All these photos of white wildflowers were taken in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. All except the last one were taken April 2009. The first 2 photos are Foamflower.
Next is Fraser's Sedge

These 2 are Rue Anemone.

Not to be confused with the last 3, which are Great Chickweed.

This last photo of Great Chickweed was taken April 2008,

during the Wildflower Pilgrimage.

Bishop's Cap - Wildflower in GSMNP

Bishop's Cap seems to be abundant in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Very delicate flower that blooms in April and May at elevations up to 2,500 ft.

The stems are 10 to 15 inches.

Dog Hobble -Wildflower in GSMNP

Dog Hobble is only found in the Southern Appalachians

according to the Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers book.

These photographs of Dog Hobble were all taken in the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park April 18, 2009.

I think the flowers are so pretty, but the shrub isn't much to look at.

The book says "In pre-Park days, when bear hunting was practiced, the heavy bears could escape pursuing dogs by forcing their way through dense thickets of these shrubs, whereas the dogs became 'hobbled' by the tangled growth."

Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)

I went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on Wednesday to capture some last snow photos. I think I waited one day too late. I did get some snow photos, but I was more excited about the wildflowers.

I stopped on the way home at the Chestnut Top Trail

and was able to photograph some wildflowers.

The Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers book says this about the Purple Phacelia..."Reaching a height of 12 to 24 inches, this is the tallest of the four phacelias in the Smokies. Purple phacelia blooms in April and May. It is found in some abundance at the start of the Chestnut Top Trail and along Park roads and trails from the valleys up to 2,000 feet elevation."

Carter Shields cabin and deer at Cades Cove

As usual I stopped at the Carter Shields cabin. As we pulled in I told Jimmy to keep an eye for the deer.

I had photographed a buck and doe here on December 2, 2008.

I just wandered around and photographed various snow covered things.

Came back to the cabin, for one last photo, and then started to get back in the vehicle when Jimmy showed me the buck.

He was crossing at the exact spot that I had photographed him before.

Without any doubt it is the same buck, because his antlers still don't look real good. This time he had 2 doe with him. One crossed the road before him, and one after him.

Click here and here to see the 2 earlier post of this buck. It was exciting to see the same buck at the same exact spot. You can bet I will always keep a better eye for deer in this area on future visits.