We were stuck in traffic. This may not have been uncommon if we were back in Orlando, where we have the happiest congestion on Earth, but that’s not where we were. We were waiting on the entrance road to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains, an entirely new opportunity to inhale carbon monoxide fumes and allow your middle finger to get some exercise. It seemed apocalyptic; cars stretched in either direction as far as we would see. They were releasing women and children only. The vehicle in front of us had long since resorted to cannibalism.
Tag Archives: hiking
2020/06/30 – Roaring Fork (Finally!)
Rounding a bend, and we were there. Except it wasn’t just one single solitary tier as I had imagined. Instead, the whole of Grotto Falls stretches out for a hundred yards or longer, and in direct contact with the trail as well. In fact, there was even a lower tier of Grotto Falls below the trail, though trying to access or view it was something far beyond my imagination on this day. It made such an awesome scene to see the trail run alongside the creek, with the well known main tier lying in the background. A long exposure of this unanticipated scene would have fit right in with some of my favorites in my portfolio, but alas, that was a lot of trail that would have to be kept free of people for far longer than was going to be possible at this time. I was sad, because this is singularly one of the most beautiful sights I’ve come across in a mountain range that is absolutely full of them.
2020/06/29 – Little River of Big Wonders
Step by step I worked my way up the gradual incline, trekking poles assisting me to make the burden of each step just a little less. The sound of two feet and the knobby end of two poles constantly pushing off the ground filled the air with the distinctive sound of crunching dirt. There was another sound permeating the air; that of the heavy breathing of the three people enjoying this hike with me, my wife Jess and our friend John and his wife Lauren, making their first trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. I paced onward, practically oblivious to their plight, my overriding concern being to push the group forward to minimize the possibility of us getting caught in a significant thunderstorm, something I had experienced before and wanted to protect my less experienced friends one. If I may be excused for being oblivious to the physical struggles of my group, one must understand that it almost unfathomable that I could outhike anyone; for in the days and weeks leading up to our Smoky Mountain trip, I had legitimately barely been able to walk.
2017/10/21 – Black Mountain Magic Woman
Somewhere in front of us was a mountain. Not that we could see it, but we were taking it on good faith that it was there. I don’t know why, considering the Blue Ridge Parkway signage had been rather inconsistent this summer of 2011, but we were. We could definitely see the base of it, but impenetrable mist shrouded much of the top. And that top seemed to be enormously high – far higher than I had ever imagined could occur in Appalachia. Not that I had ever spent much time imagining the tallness of Appalachia. I was from Florida, after all, where the largest hills nearby are landfills (one might think I am joking. But it’s pretty much true). This massive peak was beyond anything I would have expected. It was mysterious, foreboding, fantastical. For a second I thought I might have been in Alaska, and that was only partially because I would end up in the hospital later that night with a systemic infection.
2017_10_21 – Chilling at Crabtree Falls
Trees and branches flailed violently in stiff gusts as some of the few golden leaves adorning at this late stage of the season detached and flew through the air. Just as chaotic as the trees was the effect this intense, bone chilling cold had on my psyche. With the wind blowing at such a high rate, the cold was inescapable, and it clouded my brain. Up to this point the temperature during our hike had felt fresh and not oppressive, and given that the day was supposed to warm up rather quickly once the sun came up, I was only wearing a moderately thick jacket over a t-shirt and turtleneck. That was hardly sufficient to combat the barrage of wind chill I was engulfed in, which said nothing for my exposed hands and face. Had I picked one waterfall before the trip that I wanted to photograph well, it would have been Crabtree Falls. I hadn’t imagined that I could reach the falls in good light, with nobody else around to cloud my shot, and still encounter such hostile shooting conditions. My mind had pretty quickly gone from fantasizing about an ideal shot to just getting a shot and getting the hell out of there.
2017/10/20 – Reveling in Roan Mountain
“Throw everything for a loop and go to Roan Mountain?” That’s what my immaculately prepared trip itinerary had listed for this Thursday in October 2017, the sixth day of our eight day mountain trip and our second in the vicinity of Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls, likely next to a notation on a restaurant thatContinue reading “2017/10/20 – Reveling in Roan Mountain”
2017/10/16-2017/10/17 – Grandfather Mountain is our Granddaddy
I was almost through it, the stacks of boulders the size of modern day pickup trucks that tow mobile homes behind them just for the sake of justifying them costing more than my house. I had navigated foot by foot along the treacherous stretch, having to take care to avoid a spill and concentrating onContinue reading “2017/10/16-2017/10/17 – Grandfather Mountain is our Granddaddy”
2017/10/19 – The Wonders of Linville Gorge (Table Rock and the Chimneys)
“The last mile to the parking area is very steep”, one of several trail guides I referenced had warned. Well, they weren’t joking. At least it was paved. The serious nature of this ascent mean that after miles of rustic roadway, you suddenly found pavement again. That made the road feel much safer in much the same way that duct tape always provided reassurance when one was on a poorly maintained fair ride.
2017/10/17 – Touching the Sky at Tennent Mountain
I felt like I was walking on air. I knew I wasn’t – in fact I was hiking on the narrow ridge of Tennent Mountain. There was but a narrow path that navigated the small bit of the ridge that remained level enough at the top to walk. In many areas the terrain sloped quickly and someone steeply on either side, but still mild enough to provide just the right level of unobstructed views and excitement without the feeling of danger. one could see the distinctive ball of Looking Glass Rock, though very small and far, far below (some 1,500-2000 feet lower in elevation gain). We had hiked that rock yesterday, and it was hard to imagine one could find a location so dramatically higher, but there we were, looking down on the rock which had struck fear into us at the end, where the dramatic slope of the rock gave us little comfortable place to enjoy the views we had hiked over 3 miles to obtain.
2017/10/16 – Letdown at Looking Glass and Moore Cove Falls
Looking Glass easily provides the most striking and distinctive peak in the area. It’s shape can be easily identified from the rest even at a great distance. Every view which includes it is better because of it. You get no benefit from that when you’re on the actual rock. One thing is conspicuously absent from the view from Looking Glass; the rock itself.
J. Parker Nature Stories 