Now, into the mountains: First let me say
that the state of the forest is rather depressing... HWA has
claimed just about every hemlock of note, and at Clingmans
Dome nearly every mature fir is long gone - even the spruce
look bad... anyway, the Roaring Forks Motor Nature Trail was
awesome. Although we didn't get out often, the views were
incredible, at least to me. I'm sure most of y'all have seen all
of it before, but the size of the hemlocks, tuliptrees, red maples,
and, perhaps most impressively, white oaks was incredible.
We stopped about a third of the way down the road to see a
snake on a tree trunk; I went exploring while I had a chance
and met up with a HUGE white oak not far off the trail... and this
was before the cove with numerous gigantic (though unfortunately
dead or dying) hemlocks... I'd love to return soon and actually
walk the trails there. 

Anyway, on Tuesday, we went to
Clingmans Dome. The enjoyment of this trip was dampened
by the sight of the snag forest surrounding the peak: virtually
no Fraser Fir were alive, except for trees about head high,
and little else but the mountain ash looked healthy... the
weather was pretty refreshing (at least to me!) with temperatures
in the upper 50's or low 60's and a stiff 10-15mph wind; overcast
skies and a very low cloud deck reduced the visibility to a
few hundred feet! The spruce forests between Newfound Gap and
Clingmans Dome looked healthier than any of the other conifer
forests that I saw in the Smokies. It's truly still an incredible
place in the Smokies, despite chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease,
adelgids, acid rain, etc., and I plan to return in a couple of years.

-Zac