Weekend in the Smokies

Jullian and I went to the Smoky Mountains this weekend to try to get some good springtime shots and just to enjoy the beautiful park. I had hoped to go a couple weeks ago when the leaves on the trees were just coming out and bright green, but didn't make it there until now.

It was beautiful weather there, but not what I had hoped for my pictures. I wanted some cloudy, foggy weather in the mountains. After all that is why they are called the Smoky Mountains. However, it was clear, bright, sunny days. I still took several shots though - mostly close, detail type shots - but I did get a few wider view shots as well.

I picked Jullian up from school Friday afternoon and we drove up that evening and came back Sunday night. While we were there we saw lots of wild animals in the park - elk, deer (lots of deer), a momma bear and her three cubs, wild turkey, a fox and lots of horses. The horses weren't wild, but they had a huge area in the meadow of Cades Cove where several were allowed to roam free. There were horses of every color there and they looked so beautiful grazing in the fields. I think they were my favorite animals to see while we were out there because there were so many.

We stayed on the Tennessee side of the park in a small town called Townsend, just a few minutes from Cades Cove, so the majority of our time was in and around Cades Cove. We went to Cades Cove a few times, hiked to a couple waterfalls and spent a lot of time at the rivers. We had a picnic at one of the rivers that we hung out at. It was really beautiful - more beautiful than the last time we were in this area of the Smokies and it was during the same time of year. Hopefully we'll be able to get back up there again soon.

Here we are at Morton's Overlook near some of the higher peaks in the Smokies and near the North Carolina - Tennessee state line.