After spending the last couple months traveling along the essentially flat terrain of the gulf coast, Florida, and the Carolinas, the Smokey Mountains are a welcome and surprising change. These are real mountains so don’t listen to anyone who comes from Colorado and tells you otherwise. Some of the peaks rise to almost 6,000 feet with quite steep terrain and vertical gain. This range of mountains in the park are old but still majestic and the Appalachian Trail runs some 70 miles right up through the middle of the park. It’s still winter here and most of the deciduous trees have not even begun to pop leaf buds which gives the mountains a somewhat bare look. There are sections of pines in them though and also very large areas of Rosebud rhododendrons that give green to the forests. In addition, much of the forest floor is covered now with the green leaves of flowering plants and ferns which will soon explode when the warm weather comes. It’s still winter but there are signs that spring is on the way. Small, dainty flowers of yellows, purples, and whites are starting to bloom on the forest floor; some butterflies are starting to appear; black bears are starting from their winter lairs in standing hollow trees; Rosebay rhododendrons are spreading their year round leaves; and the last remnants of snow at the higher elevations are melting away (although more storms are possible and likely before spring settles in for good). The forest floor is covered with boulders, fallen trees and limbs, various fungi, lichens, and amazing mosses that exhibit the most vibrant of greens that would make the Irish proud. In spite of the lack of leaves, all of this creates a rich viewing area and a most enjoyable area to hike in. Most of the wildlife is still enjoying winters slumber and there wasn’t much to be seen. We were treated however to a mother Black Bear and at least one cub that were high up in the hollow of a tree that Laurie spotted while we were hiking the Smokemont Loop Trail. We did see some birds and butterflies and one squirrel but that was about it. There is a reason though that GSMNP is an International Biosphere Reserve as well as a designated World Heritage Site. It has more species of tree’s than northern Europe, over 1,500 species of flowering plants, dozens of native fish, over 200 species of birds, and over 60 species of mammals. There are also rare salamanders found only in this park as well as other amphibians and reptiles. If we were to pass through a little later in the season many of these would have been apparent to us. There is also much evidence to be found in it of the cultures of the Cherokee’s as well as the original white settlers who forced them out. The historic cabins, mills, etc. on the Cave Cove loop road are testament to that. There are also a number of historic buildings around Elkmont Campground that were owned by the people who were displaced when this area was authorized as a National Park in 1926 and finally established in 1934.

The Smokies got their name, “shaconage”, from the Cherokee Indians who were the original inhabitants of this area. The name translates into “blue, like smoke”. If you cross north/south in the park on Newfound Gap Road, the vistas at the higher elevations will in fact confirm that they do look blue and smokey. The mountains now are not lush and green yet and we wished we might have been here at least a month later into the spring to enjoy that, but, if we are to be back home by late June, we need to keep moving. The upside at this time of the year was that the three campgrounds that were open had plenty of availability on a first come first served basis. Once April comes around, campsites are only available by reservations made about a year in advance. It was surprising to learn that GSMNP is the most visited National Park in the entire system since it competes with some other big ones like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Canyon. It receives more visitors than any other! The reason is that unlike the many parks located out west, GSMNP is close to a multitude of densely populated areas and it is accessible via a number of major roadways. This causes intense usage during the summer so it is recommended to try to get here in spring or fall when school is still in session and the crowds are lighter. Actually, we encountered a large number of visitors even at this time of year as the weather was reasonable and, many college students were here hiking while they were on spring break! Another benefit at this time was that there weren’t any flying insects yet and the daytime temperatures were actually quite pleasant. On varying nights, we had temperatures in the low twenties as well as in the high forties with daytime temperatures that on one day reached up into the eighties! We spent three days in the park and then cut it short due to rain that had moved in. During the three days here we were able to do hikes that included 5.5 mile Little River/Cucumber Gap trail, the 5.5 mile Abrams Falls Trail, the 2.5 mile Laurel Falls Trail, and the 6.5 mile Smokemont Loop Trail. None of these trails were very demanding and we were pretty much just getting our hiking legs back after 2 months off on our aforementioned travels along the gulf coast, Florida, and the Carolinas. We also made a drive of the Caves Cove Loop with the many historic buildings that were on it and this is a worthwhile visit although travel along the eleven mile loop can be very slow due to bicyclists and slow driving “gawkers”, even at this time of the year. I can’t imagine it in the height of the summer. The park is criss crossed with innumerable creeks, streams, and rivers with crystal clear waters as the area does receive a fair amount of rain throughout the year. The higher elevations of the park receive upwards of 85 inches of rain per year.

The park was established due to concerns about the clear cutting of the forests by commercial logging companies and although that has been stopped, this beautiful park is still under attack. There are many sources of pollution like automobile exhaust from nearby population centers as well as the many cars that fill the park during the summer. Power plants, especially coal burning power plants to the west of the park, pollute the park with particulates, ozone, acid rain, and nitrogen. There is no such thing as clean coal! This pollution reduces visibility in the park up to 40% in the winter and 80% in the summer. The ozone damages plants and is also a major irritant to human respiratory tracts and eyes. The acid rain damages trees and releases aluminum and other metals in the soil that are toxic to plants and life in the streams and rivers. GSMNP used to be home to 75% of the worlds Fraser fir trees. That changed when an invasive insect called the balsam woolly adelgid was inadvertently brought into the United States on tree stock from Europe. This tiny in sect, which burrows into the bark of the tree and sucks its sap, and has now destroyed most of the mature Fraser firs in the park. This is especially evident at the higher elevations. Birds and other organisms that call the Fraser fir home have also declined in numbers as the trees have died off. We have run into problems with wild hogs in Texas and North Carolina and other states and its no different in this National Park. These non-native and fast reproducing animals destroy plants, historic landscapes, and compete with native species for foods like oak and hickory nuts. The rich bio-diversity of this park is also a magnet for humans who poach plants and other materials. The illegal gathering of ginseng roots, mosses, lichens, galax, ornamental plants, and even rocks, destroys landscapes and habitats for the parks wildlife. There is another type of adelgid that was introduced here from China and Japan and that is the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. The park rangers are treating a number of areas for this invasive species and they have also introduced a beetle that feeds only on this adelgid and will hopefully bring it under control before the Hemlocks suffer the same fate as the Fraser firs. Last but not least is a native pest called the Southern Pine Beetle, which causes the death of pine trees. These trees are home to the threatened red-cockaded woodpecker that nests in them. When the tree’s go, so do the birds. With all of these threats facing the park, you would think that forest fires would also be on the list. Forest fires actually have many beneficial effects on the health and livelihood of the forest. Fires destroy many of the Southern Pine Beetles when they occur and all of the pine trees are not necessarily destroyed by the fire. This is good. In addition, there are many types of pine seeds that require the high intensity heat of a fire in order to germinate and this sets the table for an abundance of new pines to fill in the burned areas. The blanked areas are also excellent for native plants like mountain fetterbush, climbing fumitory, and the uncommon wildflower called Blue Ridge Mountain banner to get a foot hold now that sunlight can reach the area. All is not positive with the fires though as the burned out areas offer a free range to non-native invasive species of plants and trees to move in as well. Examples of these opportunistic invasives are kudzu, oriental bittersweet, princess trees, and mimosa trees. It requires continuous diligence by not only the employees of the National Park Service, but also all of the citizens who take advantage of this beautiful park to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy it the same way that we are. The Smokies are a great destination, no matter what time of the year you decide to visit them. Lets keep it that way.