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Echoes in the Mountains: The Next Generation
Images by Phoebe Carnes
The early morning mist had just dissipated as the sun began to rise over the mountains. The Oconaluftee River was clear and cold, rejuvenated from a light shower the previous night. A cow watched me warily from the forest, ears up and nostrils twitching as she deciphered my scent. A fuzzy copper head peaked out from
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Family-Friendly Walks in the Smokies: Historic Walking Tours
Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers more than a dozen family-friendly nature and historic walking trails. They’re perfect for a quick walk in the woods to see the park’s flora, fauna, and remnants of the past.
This is the third in a three-part series of blog posts describing these trails.
In my previous blogs, I covered
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Trailside Talk: A Wildflower for Dot
A wintery wind is still hurrying through the mountains, but the wildflowers of the Smokies’ spring are bursting forth.
It is this time of the year in these mountains that reminds me of my late and beloved friend Dot Jackson, whose connections to and love for the Smokies were long and strong.
Dot Jackson, photo courtesy of
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Celebrating Four Decades of the Digital Age in the Smokies
Almost exactly forty years ago on April 28, 1982, an internal park service newsletter announced some terribly exciting news—Great Smoky Mountains National Park would be receiving its very first computer.
“Eureka!” the editor’s note proclaimed. “We have one … a computer, that is …. Well, almost. The
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Wildflowers 101: Trout Lilies
Story and images by Tom Harrington
Perhaps, like me, you have been amazed at the various shapes and designs of wildflower blooms and leaves.
Trout lilies and yellow trilliums have particularly notable leaves. No doubt you have seen military personnel on news reels or maybe in a convenience store buying coffee on a Saturday morning as they
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Reducing artificial light at night (ALAN) can save thousands of park bird species
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a vital part of the greater southern Appalachian region through which many bird species migrate to and from their breeding grounds in warmer climates. Birds traveling at night have used the stars for millennia to help them navigate safely to their destinations.
But thousands of birds who regularly visit
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Taking a Walk Across Ancient Land
My boots make a crunching sound on the rocks. It’s a constant backdrop while hiking in the high country of the Smokies, except on those stretches of trail where I hit snow, ice, or leaves. The crunching has been an almost continuous background for my hikes in the Smokies over the decades.
More recently, I’ve been
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Image for the Asking: A Little River That’s Not Really So Little
Story and image by Don McGowan
There is a place in the Smokies known as Collins Gap. It is where the western slope of Mount Collins tumbles down to meet the eastern slope of Kuwahi (Clingmans Dome). In other words, it’s a high place along the crest of the Smokies ridge, somewhere around 5,723 feet.
Below the north face of Collins Gap,
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Echoes in the Mountains: A herd in sacred waters
Images by Phoebe Carnes
Before I began observing elk in Smokies, I never thought of them as water-loving creatures. But it wasn’t long before I learned that the elk here have a profound relationship with the Oconaluftee River that is as fascinating as it is multifaceted.
Bull B takes a drink on a misty September morning in
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Family-Friendly Walks in the Smokies: Nature Trails Part 2
Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers more than a dozen family-friendly nature and historic walking trails. They’re perfect for a quick walk in the woods to see the park’s flora, fauna, and remnants of the past.
This is the second in a three-part series of blog posts describing these trails.
In my last blog, I covered
Read more...
