Smokies Light

Back in the Chattanooga area now. The gloomy rain and chilly temps are a shock to my system, not to mention a bout of illness. I thought Spring would be much further along than what it is now, but 75ish degree temps are predicted for the coming week. Picture taking will be limited until I'm settled back in, assuming I can settle back in.

Took these trillium pics this morning on the Chimneys nature trail. Spring is very nice. The peace and quiet of the mountains and the rushing water of the full mountain streams is as beautiful and attractive to me as ever, but the desire to take pics of it just isn't there. It's a lot of photo work to do these flowers justice, setting up a tripod in uneven terrain, finding the right background for the composition, and getting the exposure right. I just took these handheld and it shows in the quality and sharpness. I'd still rather have my bare feet in the sand and sea watching pelicans surf.

These were taken this morning in the Cove.

Time to put out the feeders. By way of Life after 50.

Feeling guilty about the lackluster trillium pics below, I found this one (of many thousands) along the side of Cades Cove Road and used a tripod.

Trying out a new thingy here where you can play a song legally on a blog, which in the past hasn't been an easy thingy to do without embedding a Youtube video. Hopefully in your browser you will see a little player above and be able to click the button to play. This song by Nelly Furtado is, according to me, one of the most beautiful ever recorded.

Traveling on bizness I left my camera bag behind at the hotel, so it will be a few days before I will be clicking the shutter again.

I woke this morning love laid me down by a river. Yes, New Age before New Age was cool.

It was strong enough to wake me up here in Gatlinburg and realize it was a quake in my groggy state of mind. I've survived several of these rumbles over the years so this time I knew exactly what was happening while it was occurring, which is pretty cool.

Shooting Stars were blooming in abundance today in White Oak Sinks.

About a week ago I was driving along Cades Cove Road, saw a photographer on the side of the road and figured there might be some interesting stuff to takes pics of at that spot, so pulled over and introduced myself. The photographer was Al Smith, however the introduction was an embarassment for me afterwards because we had met in person about a year ago at a public meeting about the Park and had dinner afterwards. Al was also a co-contributor on the old GoSmokies blog so we had met online even earlier. I've invited him to add content on this site from time to time to hopefully add some spark and interest. Al lives close to the Park in the Walland area and is very knowledgeable about the flora, fauna, trails, as well as political and environmental issues facing the Park. As you know, my interests, travels, and work take me away from the Smokies for long periods sometimes, so for those of you who drop by for a Smokies fix, hopefully Al can provide more Smokies-centric content and more content in general than I can offer. You can visit Al's site Life After 50 - One Man's Perspective to learn more about Al's explorations of the Great Smoky Mountains.

One of the most popular trails in the Smokies isn't even an official trail....

If you visit...... I've become increasingly concerned about too many visitors to these pristine areas which harbor many rare examples of wildflowers. It isn't the sheer number of visitors that concern me but rather the fact that some hikers lead large groups of people into these areas without a proper briefing on how to avoid damage to the fragile nature of the area. In 2007, for example, the Virginia Bluebell flowers in White Oak Sinks, were literally trampled into a mass of smashed leaves and blue petals by people trying to get a better view and/or take photos. The same can be said for a few other rarely found wildflowers in the park. So, if you visit, please stay on the trail and avoid trampling other plants. I understand that everyone wants to get a closer view of something interesting and beautiful, however, instead of getting off the trail, use that zoom lens on your camera and take photos with your highest resolution settings. Leave the beautiful flowers unimpaired for the future enjoyment of others.

And for you park service managers.....Face the facts: People want to hike to White Oak Sinks. Adopt the trail. Maintain it. Map it. Protect it. Do your job to protect and manage our beautiful park resources for the enjoyment of all instead of blowing your money on structures like that Swiss Chalet-style resort you built at Twin Creeks.

This pic of the Cades Cove Loop Road was taken about 2 weeks ago. The road looks ok here but overall is in very bad condition, probably setting a Guinness record for potholes per mile. The Loop is likely the most traveled road in any National Park, and to see it in such horrible condition is a disgrace to the nation. I have mixed feelings however. Personally I would just as soon see the road closed permanently and the cove return to forest, but I realize that view is probably held by just me. With the Twin Creeks resort mentioned in the previous post the Park has made it difficult to advocate for additional funding for necessary infrastructure improvements. Such is life in our ownership society.

What a strange word fauna is. The day this pic was taken was obviously cloudy but lately we've had several sunny days in a row. It used to be that was a good thing, but after last Summer day after day of cloudless sky brings on an ominous feeling.

Visiting folks in the Chattanooga area, I couldn't help but notice the gigantic new Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters under construction on Cameron Hill, overlooking downtown Chattanooga. This pic is a 3 image composite (212mb in size), with a 4th image left out which included a gargantuan, humongous (ie. very big) parking garage on the south side of the hill. When the temple is occupied, the gods will command a magnificent air-conditioned vista of downtown, the Tennessee River, and Lookout Mountain, while processing the paperwork and making life and death financial and health decisions for the mere mortals down below who pay their tithes to the gods. Now paying tithes to the gods is optional for a mortal, but woe be it to the mortal who chooses not to pay the tithe. For if it isn't paid, should the mortal fall ill, the healer gods will ignore the mortal, or confiscate all their meager possessions along with all their hopes and dreams of possessions in the future. So the tithes must be paid, lest the gods come and smite thee with a curse.

*Sorry, as a now independent contractor, my monthly tithe to BC would be $225 just for catastrophic coverage with a $2500 deductible, and BC is non-profit. I think I'll withhold my tithe and take my chances with the curse.

Northwest Georgia.

Pictured here is Bill Braasch, proprietor of Scenic Segway in downtown Chattanooga. His business offers tours of the Chattanooga riverfront on Segways. These machines offer excellent transportation for large urban but pedestrian friendly areas like the riverfront. You don't get the exercise that walking provides, but they do save time and gas, plus it looks like fun. Bill tells me it will cost you around $6000 for your own Segway.

Scenes from inside the new Greenlife grocery on the Northshore in Chattanooga, taken from the upstairs dining area. They also have an outdoor dining patio. This place will likely be my new hangout when visiting Chattanooga, as they have wifi, plenty of free parking, and real food to eat. I like the Stonecup coffeehouse but the owner, who I've had a ga ga crush on for many years sold the place and is no longer there, at least when I visit, so my real motive for hanging out there is sadly no more (plus parking is a hassle).

On a rainy Monday morning I thought I would have the cabin to myself. I thought wrong. There were 5 or 6 photographers already there meandering about for the perfect dogwood and log cabin shot. I couldn't get any closer without getting in someone's way.

The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is indeed a nature trail, with a roaring fork nonetheless. On my last motor hike around it, I concentrated on a theme of pics that included both the fork and the road, because I've always been taught that if you come to a fork in the road, take a picture of it, or something like that. I'll post a few more pics like this one as the days and clouds drift by.

I found this game at TripAdvisor to be addictive. A world capital, famous place, or other large city is displayed at the top, then you click on the world map as quickly and as closely as you can to its location to get points. The game becomes more difficult as you progress. As you advance to higher levels, you have to be more accurate to keep advancing. On my monitor the map is too small and some countries are hard to see which makes it more difficult, but it's still a neat learning tool.