Summer of 19 - #16 - Great Smoky Mountains, Clingmans Dome & a herd of Elk!!!

Tuesday September 3rd, 2019
We had a day in.  Unfortunately our river view is still blocked by campers, but it is still lovely here.  I spent most of the day watching tennis, and keeping an eye on Hurricane Dorian.  It will not affect us but Jacksonville will probably get hit by some winds.

Wednesday September 4th, 2019
We went on a road trip to a new area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park today.  The only problem (and it's not really a problem, it's what makes the National Parks so great) is it's always a long drive to get anywhere in the parks, and almost impossible to see everything in a short time.
We headed toward Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the National Park.  It is only 33 miles away but took an hour and a half, as the roads are very twisty and there were road works part of the way.
We eventually got there.

I'm not sure what happened, but when I was researching this I thought the observation tower was right next to the visitor center.  Unfortunately I was wrong!!!  Oh well, half a mile, we can do that.

The views were amazing.

It soon became apparent that this was not an easy half a mile, it was all uphill and quite steep.  There were many curves in the trail, and each time you hoped that as you went round the curve, you would see the tower.  It took forever,  we stopped a few times to have a rest.  We nearly gave up a couple of times, but managed to continue on.  We weren't the only ones struggling,  nearly everyone had to stop and rest at some point, young and old alike, and there were others struggling and out of breath, just like us.

Nope, it wasn't at the top this slope

Eventually we reached the tower, now to climb up it.  We hadn't come this far without going up to the top.  We sat and had a rest before continuing on.  We looked at the tracker on Bryan's phone and we had done 1.2 miles, hmmmm. 

Halfway up the walkway

Nearly there

Phew, we reached the top.  Thank goodness, the walkway up to the observation deck was no way as difficult as the walk up to get to the observation tower.  Maybe because the end was in sight.

The Appalachian Trail goes through here as well, and we are on the North Carolina/Tennessee border.

Looking down

Well, that was exhausting and it was quite hot.  We started back down the hill.

I'm holding the tree up, honest!!!!

It was easier going downhill, at least for me and I think for Bryan as well, although his knees usually give him more trouble going down than up.  This time was an exception, his knee was screaming before we got anywhere near the top.

We only needed one rest on the way down.

Nearly there

When we got back to the car we had done 2.1 miles.  The uphill made that seem at least double that, but we did it.  Was it worth it?  Well, I guess we can say we did it, but we felt we have seen just as spectacular views from roadside turnouts.  We wouldn't have known that though without doing it, would we? We decided that was enough for today. and we would head home.  

I took this picture of grass clippings on the road.  They were mowing the edges to cut the grass, and also to curtail the invasive vine I spoke about in my previous blog.

We were meandering along and had passed the roadworks, when traffic started slowing down again. Bryan noticed a herd of Elk in the pasture just ahead of us, and quickly moved to the side and parked behind other cars that had done the same thing.  Bryan grabbed his camera, got out and stood behind his side of the car taking pictures.  My camera had died, but I did manage to take a video on my phone. Here's a LINK to it.

The herd moved closer and closer to us, it was amazing.

Suddenly I noticed a bull elk and, as you can tell in the video, I wanted to make sure Bryan had got a picture of it.  He had of course, and even told me about another one that I hadn't seen. Ha!!Ha!!

Elk had been eliminated from North Carolina in the late 1700's, by over hunting and loss of habitat.  The National Park began reintroducing Elk to the Great Smoky Mountains Park in 2001, when 25 elk were brought from Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, along the Tennessee-Kentucky border. Another 27 were added in 2002.

In my video you will see how quite a few people got out of their cars and walked very close to the elk.
I found this on the park website:
"Willfully approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces elk, is illegal in the park.
Violation of this federal regulation can result in fines and arrest.  Do not enter fields to view elk--remain by the roadside and use binoculars, telephoto lens, or a spotting scope to view the animals."

So, they were actually breaking the law.

The Elks do not seem at all disturbed by us humans though, and thankfully carried on as though we weren't there.  

Elk Rutting is now, and if you're lucky you can see the males "rutting" to impress the ladies.  They also "bugle" and the sound can be heard up to a mile away.  I would love to see and hear that, but am content with what we saw today.  

We stopped at the Visitor Center on our way out to get more information on the area.  They have moved historic cabins found around the park, into a central location here and created a Farm Museum. We didn't walk around it as we were still exhausted, maybe we'll return.

On a final note, the ranger was telling a couple in front of us about the best times to view the elks. It turns out that we were extremely lucky to see them at 4pm, as they usually come out in the morning or before dusk.  See, it was meant to be!!!!!

We got home, safe, sound and a little sore but happy. 😍