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Sunset atop Clingmans Dome at Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the park, elevation 6,643 ft |
Waiting for the sun to set |
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Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park, more than double 2nd place. In 2011, 9 million people visited Great Smoky Mountains, with only 4.3 million visiting the Grand Canyon and 3.95 million visiting Yosemite. |
Sun rays |
Scroll to the bottom of the page for views from Clingmans Dome during the day |
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The Great Smoky Mountains were originally named for the mist-like clouds that were usually present. But now, it's at the top of the list of most polluted national parks, with summer visibility decreasing 80% compared to what it was in the 1940s. |
My guess is the smoky haze I saw was mostly pollution |
The viewing platform at Clingmans Dome |
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Main road through the park |
Leaves were turning color, which is why I ended up there during one of the busiest weeks of the year |
Fall foliage |
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Black bear |
Oh shit, he sees me |
He eventually got bored and walked away |
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Big snake |
No idea what species it is |
Shows how long he was |
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That's when I first saw it |
Red, orange, yellow, green |
Fall foliage |
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Abrams Falls trail |
Abrams Creek |
Fall foliage |
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Abrams Falls |
Abrams Falls |
Abrams Falls |
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Fall foliage |
Fall foliage |
Fall foliage |
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Small snake |
Abrams Creek |
Abrams Falls trail |
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Viewpoint near Fighting Creek Gap |
Laurel Creek |
Laurel Creek |
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Red & yellow |
Trees along the Laurel Falls trail |
Laurel Falls trail |
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Laurel Falls trail |
Laurel Falls |
Slower shutter speed |
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The upper part of Laurel Falls |
Yellow leaves |
Fall foliage |
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Fall foliage close-up |
Multi-colored ferns |
Probably should have timed the trip a couple weeks earlier... maybe those upper elevations would still have leaves instead of looking dead. |
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View from Newfound Gap, elevation 5,046 ft |
The North Carolina-Tennessee state line runs through the park, but most of the most popular stuff to see is on the Tennessee side. |
The Appalachian Trail runs through the park. Only 2,000 more miles to the end! |
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The Sinks |
The Sinks |
Cades Cove |
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Wild turkeys |
Dead trees on Clingmans Dome |
The dead trees are Fraser Fir, and dead ones are all over the top of Clingmans Dome (and throughout the park). They're killed by the balsam woolly adelgid, a small insect introduced from Europe around 1900 and is now wreaking havoc throughout the park. |
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View from Clingmans Dome |
View from Clingmans Dome |
All the dead Fraser Fir |