kc to gsm: clingman's dome & newfound gap

July 14, 2016

kc to gsm: clingman's dome & newfound gap

After our morning of biking and fortified by lunch and ice cream cones we drove southeast to Clingman's Dome. It is the highest point of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. A paved, half-mile, very steep path leads you to the observation tower. I took more pictures of the views than the people.

The experience provided comic relief as this location was heavily congested and the path was being climbed by those with strollers (not recommended), bikers (not allowed), people in flip flops, and crying children (some of whom were wearing flip flops). There was also a rock pile at the entrance to the path that people were crawling like ants over. Roone, of course, needed that experience so Jesse enjoyed that with him. Again I was provided with more comedy watching the hoards of people there.

The road to Clingman's Dome is Newfound Gap. (A "gap" is the term for a low point in a mountain ridge.) We stopped on the way back for a couple of pictures. The kids by this point were done, so we didn't even ask if they wanted to get out for the view. The Appalachian Trail crosses at this stop and the border of Tennessee and North Carolina is here, but the lack of picture of that sign indicates that I was close to being done too. The Newfound Gap road was a mountain road so you climb the entire time with wondrous views and also the temperature reduced by a good twenty degrees from Gatlinburg. That was more than welcome after the morning adventure in Cades Cove.

(For some reason we didn't get a complete picture of the dome. It's an odd structure that can fully be seen by clicking the above link to the dome's web page.)

One thing I almost forgot to mention is that one of the coolest things about being up that high was that clouds passed right through us. I've been at higher elevations on mountains before and not experienced that.