Still Gravity

The fire tower covered by clouds on the summit of Fort Mountain - License our images  here . A winding road climbs to Fort Mountain State Park in northeast Georgia. Great that we were the only ones driving up with such a bad weather.  We got a camping spot near the lake. Interesting experience when the ranger made us sign a disclaimer because of the presence of active bears in the park. This was a first for us. I guess it meant, be eaten at your own risk.  The remains of the fort were a six-mile hike from our campsite. Foggy walk and nobody in the trails. All was wet.  The wall of rocks of the ancient fort. The "fort" is a enigma. The 800 feet wall of rocks was found two centuries ago. Nobody knows for sure who built this, but there are a few disconnected ideas:  Native American ruins from 500 A.D. Defensive position from Welsh explorers. Left

Our tiny camper in the busy KOA of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee - License our images  here . We stopped in the touristic city for laundry and recharge of the power station after days in the Smokies - the solar panels were defeated by the clouds covering these mountains.  KOA camps are expensive, but clean and comfortable. Laundry and shower didn't disappoint. Privacy and the noisy roads around the campground were another matter. But this is Pigeon Forge. What else can we expect? Busy place.  We know the area because we spent a week camping here years ago - it was in another RV park. So, leaving the clothes in the laundry, we walked to the neighboring Historic District to kill time.    The Historic District of Pigeon Forge with its iconic Old Mill. We got pastries and coffee across the Old Mill. S poiled campers returned to city dwellers. Wh

Alum Cave in the Smokies.  This is the most popular trail of the national park. It gets busy. At 9:30 a.m. there was not parking space in the trailhead. The truck ended on a side of the road at a 15% slope according to the inclinometer . Some stuff felt out when I opened the rear door. Gravity.   The Alum Cave Trail reaches the summit of Mt. LeConte, the third highest summit in the park. There is a lodge up there, an exclusive place for hikers because there is not road. Walk, baby walk! Our plan is to hike only to Alum Cave.  Beautiful creeks up there.  On the way, we went through the celebrated Arch Rock. It's said that a flash flood created this beauty in the 1990s. The water moved the gigantic boulder, and we got an iconic place.  Arch Rock in the Alum Cave trail. 

Our campsite in the Elkmont campground, Tennessee - License our images  here . This camp is at the site of an old town called  Elkmont . This place was founded in 1908 and grew around the logging industry. They got a railroad, the “Appalachian Club”, and the Wonderland Hotel, becoming later a vacation escape for the stressed people of the city of Knoxville - those who could afford the luxury.  Hiking along the Little River, we stopped by every chimney hidden in the forest. These were the leftovers of Millionaires' Row. Ruins of ephemeral investments from another time.  Red sunsets on a red forest with blue streaks painted by the smoke of campfires. Then pitch-black and the mystery of the flames with the cracking sounds of burning wood. Silence in the wilderness.

Remember that there are only two safe places to store a gun: on your person, and in a locked, secured container.           Grant Cunningham, Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Handguns Guns should never point to people - License our images here . Firearms are tools of destruction, so handling them with care is vital.  Jeff Cooper  came out with 4 simple rules to follow.       Treat any gun as if loaded.  Never point to anything you don't want to destroy.  Keep your finger out of the trigger until sight is on target.  Be sure of the target and what is behind it.  Guns don't kill people. People kill people. (Also important to learn to load and unload properly - get the idea in this video  - and about safety in the range -  this video .)  

Morning view from the Clingmans Dome tower - License our images  here . This is the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the state of Tennessee - third place in the East of the country after Mount Mitchel and Mount Craig. Elevation: 6,643 feet (2,024 meters).  The tower on the summit looks similar to the one in the warmer Shark Valley of Everglades National Park. The day was cold and clear, a frosty wind beating our faces. Amazing the blue smoke of the Smokies resembling mighty glaciers through the deep valleys. This place was the Kuwahi  of the Cherokee Indians. This means "mulberry place". In the White Bear legend, their high mountain was the meeting place of the bears. For the early white settlers became the "Smoky Dome" until the actual name was given honoring the Confederate General that explored these mountains: Thomas Lanier Clingman . Beautiful place over the clouds.

Our site in Smokemont Campground - License our images  here .         This camp is at the eastern entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. We got a nice campsite facing Bradley Fork Creek. Good background noise for relaxed dreams.  There was a town in this place in the logging days before the park. Its name was Bradleytown. All is gone now, except for a church and the cemeteries. Old pictures show the area stripped of trees. Looks a lot better now.  We walked the short nature trail on the other side of the creek. The crossing is over a log bridge. Then the trail climbs the western hill in a loop of around a mile.  A thousand feet to the south, we went for the Smokemont Loop trail. This trail is longer and begins by crossing an old road bridge in terrible shape - it's closed to vehicles. A company from Knoxville, Tennessee, built it in 1921.  We also visited Mingo Falls - means Big Bear