Smokies Light

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.