We had the privilege last Friday to go to the mountains. This is probably the last view from Clingman’s Dome we will have a chance to see this year.
On December 1st, the Smoky Mountain Park Service will close access to this part of the park. Don’t worry, though. The schedule re-open is April 1st.
Clingman’s Dome is the highest point in the Smoky’s. The climate there is similar to southern Canada. This is what we saw all the way.
I have seen snow showers in May in the upper elevations while conditions in the foothills – Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Cherokee are the opposite on top of the mountain. The winding road leading out to Clingmans Dome can be a bit tricky for anyone who doesn’t drive along curvy roads much and it is absolutely treacherous for everyone when there’s inclement weather. The Park Service is unable to maintain that stretch of road to keep motorist safe.
Our day trip was pure joy. I rambled a bit about our time spent in the mountains earlier this week, here. I haven’t had much opportunity to shoot with my Nikon D7000, but I was able to take advantage of using it to capture some pretty amazing pictures or at least I think so. Today, I wanted to share more photo ops of our little outing in God’s country on the Blue Ridge Parkway between Cherokee, NC and Water Rock Knob overlook on the parkway…
and these sunset pictures on the NC side of the Smoky’s on our way home…
Please join my NO-RULES Thursday Thoughts linky party below:
To participate in Miss Jenny’s Alphabe-Thursday classroom assignment of the letter ‘Z’, I would like to invite you to read/re-read Z is for …. that I wrote on April 7, 2011.
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Clingman’s Dome looks like a beautiful place to zip through…
I am glad I zoomed by your last post… Zeppelin and Zumba definitely add some zest to life!
Thanks for linking to the letter “Z”!
A+
Your photos are amazing. The last one is my absolute favorite!
so this is your new crib? It looks great! Your photos are so beautiful makes me want to go somewhere right now.
We love the mountains, too, and we are trying to get to some of the national parks in and around this area. Being from California, we have some beautiful mountains, but they are different everywhere and so worth seeing.
=)
We would love to visit some of the National Parks out west. The great thing about this country is there is so much beauty everywhere! Thanks for visiting!
Just amazing scenery. And you’re right — our limestone rock edging our highways here in Southern Ontario had icicles yesterday. Our first day of below zero weather. None of our roads are closed — we just put the snow tires on and hope for the best. LOL
The pic you captured with your iPhone 5 really needs to be a framed photo. The colouring is just gorgeous.
Below zero? Holy Moly, THAT’S too cold for me. Wow, thanks for the lovely compliment, but which iPhone5s pic are you referring to? I have to admit, I did do a little photo editing. *blush*
Awesome shots and scenery!
Blowing rock, nc…. And mountains!!!
My husband would say beach though, so we better stay here halfway in between. Beautiful pics.
The Boone/Blowing Rock, NC area is a gorgeous spot for a dream home. We sometimes visit for the day and drive southward on the Blue Ridge Parkway toward home. The ocean is nice, but I am a mountain loving gal!
Ain’t it just wonderful to live so close to the Great Smoky Mountains?!? Great pics!!!
Indeed it is!
Wow! These scenes are breathtaking Cathy! I would certainly enjoy this. Thanks for hosting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Thanks, Judy! We’ve been in the area for 34-years and I still find it breathtaking even after all this time.