After spending Sunday mostly stuck in RV as the last bits of Hurricane Delta made their way through, we decided to take a road trip through Great Smoky Mountains National Park (hereafter known as GSMNP) down Hwy 441 which bisects the park on it’s way to Cherokee and points south.
There was quite a bit of fog and residual cloudiness when we started out and we didn’t figure we’d get many good views but by the time we made it up to the pass at Newfound Gap the ceiling had lifted to the tops of he hills:
But before we got there we took a detour to Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in GSMNP and Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. On a clear day you can get views like this (from the National Park website):
What we got was this:
It wasn’t a total loss however as we did have a nice 1 mile walk up and back to get the blood flowing and besides, we have been there before when it was clear so this was a whole new experience 🤨.
Anyway, it wasn’t long before we were back on our way below the fog and we were rewarded with some great views. The color was predominantly yellow punctuated with orange and although there were some beautiful red trees scattered about, they didn’t seem to come out much in the pictures:
We were also able to hike a little on the Appalachian Trail and after taking it across two states, we went almost some but not very much of the way towards Maine:
After a full morning of riding in the car looking at leaves, we stopped for lunch in the Cherokee Nation by visiting the aptly named city of Cherokee:
where we strolled the avenue and perused the shops seeking a souvenir, objet d’art, or even a pair of moccasins that would be represent authentic Native American craftsmanship but with no result. Possibly due to the proximity to GSMNP and the traffic of tourists, the purveyors of such items have universally sold out to cheap imported goods from Mexico, China, and India. Being defeated in that quest we sought nourishment and recalling the restaurant on the way in from the park with a sign proclaiming “BUFFALO BURGERS” we headed back north. Predictably, the covids had shut down the dining room but they were still doing a, what appeared to be popular, take-out business. So we masked up and placed our orders for burgers. 40 tedious minutes later we received our order of overpriced, over-cooked, disappointing, previously-frozen buffalo.
After that experience, we turned for home making one last stop at the Mingus Grist Mill. Built in 1886, the mill is in good condition and still has a functioning sluice, turbine & other machinery:
This kind fellow with a banjo explained that as an industrial mill, they relied on the sluice and vertical penstock to drive a turbine rather than a less efficient water wheel. If you ever visit the mill, go down below and you can see the turbine housing, shaft and drive belt that makes it all work.
