After having spent an exhausting week at a IEEE conference in Knoxville, TN, the plan was to go hiking/camping in the Smokey Mountains. And with the week starting with sunshine and weather that was most suitable for short we felt pretty comfortable, the forecast however showed more and more cold weather looming, and once we hit the road it became clear that the Smokeys were off limits and the roads in the park were shut down due to ice and snow. On low altitude (1000ft -300m) this was not totally easy to understand but even the naked eye say that the surrounding hills were looking just a little bit too white.
So after having to change the plans drastically we decided on some day hiking, the nearest approach to Clingman's Dome involved some 34 miles of hiking in snow rain and hail. After setting out towards the Ramsey Cascades and accepting the inevitable that Clingman's was off limits we were treated to some gorgeous nature and weather. Soon after starting to hike hail started falling, and soon turned into a mix that was more resembling snow...
Soon the ground started being more and more covered by snow and with the snowfall came lower temperatures, but nothing too bad so we actually ahd to take clothes off rather than putting them on.
The route contained some interesting bridges over the streams which were essentially logs crossing the river and being supplemented by railing on the lower side, it was actually much more stable that it looked (thankfully!)
Some of the signs warned about children, or if it was falling I wasn't sure, but feeling quite adult I felt safe...
The cascades themselves were gorgeous in the Snowfall and more than well worth the 8 mile hike!
The forest was filled with high growth rhododendron bushes, and some ancient trees of absolutely massive proportions (for a swede...).
Finally we also got some good shots of just why the park is called the Smokey Mountains!
Stats:
State: Tennessee
No highpoint reached...
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