I’m at the stage in my WordPress training where I need to create an image gallery along with adding a featured image. Rather than just throw up some random images, I thought I create a post recounting my fall trip to Tennessee.
In October of 2016, I visited east Tennessee with my wife Jan. We stayed in the city of Knoxville, but made a couple of excursions which presented me with some nice photo opportunities. I’m not particularly happy with the featured image above because of the portrait orientation, but it is currently my favorite standalone image from the trip, so I will leave it for now.
The Great Smoky Mountains
On Sunday October 9th we visited The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We entered the park from the east and made our way to Cades Cove. I’ve visited the park several times, and it is always nice to visit the old settlements in Cades Cove, but because it is a one-way loop, once you are in, you are trapped. It took us the better part of three hours to complete the loop. After escaping Cades Cove (I’m kidding, it was very enjoyable, but I just didn’t think it would take that long) we headed to the heart of the park. Our next destination was Clingmans Dome with a stop at Newfound Gap. As we made our way along winding national park roads, it was becoming obvious that we would lose our light before making it to Clingmans Dome, however we were determined to make it to Newfound Gap. After another couple of hours of driving (including a couple of roadside stops along the way) we made it to Newfound Gap. Though it had been unseasonably warm all day, there was around a 40 degree difference in temperature between Cades Cove which lies at an elevation 1726 feet and Newfound Gap at an elevation of 5046 feet. The state line between Tennessee and North Carolina runs through the middle of the parking lot. While we parked in North Carolina, I spent most of my time in Tennessee taking pictures.
January 31, 2016 – Updated above gallery to evaluate photo gallery plugin.
After spending about thirty minutes, it was time to start heading back to Knoxville. Our plan was to exit The Smoky Mountains through Gatlinburg and then back to Knoxville through Pigeon Forge. When we approached the exit, traffic was beginning to backup and I decided to take the bypass around Gatlinburg and go straight to Pigeon Forge. After the terrible fires of November 2016 I regret that decision.
Norris Dam
On Monday October 10th, we took our road trip to Norris Dam on the Clinch River in Anderson and Campbell counties approximately 30 miles northwest of Knoxville. Norris Dam was built in the mid 1930s by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Norris Dam was built for flood control and hydroelectric power generation. During WWII, Norris Dam would provide large amounts of electricity to a large aluminum smelting plant in Alcoa, TN and to the secret city of Oak Ridge, TN. Alcoa produced aluminum for aircraft production while Oak Ridge would produce the uranium that was used in the Little Boy atomic bomb developed as part of the Manhattan Project. Today, Norris Dam State Park is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon hiking and enjoying the natural surroundings. Since it was about lunch time and the weather was beautiful, we decided to cross the dam and drive to the nearby town of Rocky Top (no it was not the inspiration for the song, but there is an interesting side story if you follow the link) to pick up something to eat. Fortunately we can almost always find a Subway sandwich shop. We took our “eats” back to Norris Dam State Park and found a nice picnic table where we consumed our lunch. After eating we hit a trail that started near the dam and made its way along the shore of Norris Lake. After about an hour and half, we made our way back up to the park road nears some cabins where people were preparing for a wedding. After walking back to our car, we drove to the discharge side of the dam to walk along the river and take in the trees and birds as the sun was setting on our trip.
After leaving the dam we returned to Knoxville via the interstate where we would start packing. Tomorrow we return home.