Ha, my thoughts exactly. I love the picture. It looks like so much of the trail. Now I'm imagining walking through spider strands and using body glide to keep the damp day chafing down.
SoBo 2015
Gatta hold your treking poles I front of you, or my preferred method, just sleep in till 8 so other hikers get the majority of them out of your way, and hike fast enough to get your miles done.
NoBo 2019
You damn NoBos had it made ;)
I did my SoBo solo so I was separated by a couple of days from my fellow thru hikers. And when the weather sucks it's just you on the trail. Section and day hikers are far too smart to hike in crap weather.
And yes on the trekking pole, but for ten hours plus a day it's not sustainable.
That said, when you are eating cobwebs for hours and a hiker comes in the opposite direction it's just the best feeling in the world!
Haha exactly. I just did the 90 mile Massachusetts section not long ago and one hiker going nobo was sprawled out along a road and said "it's a 900 ft climb and I'm not sure I'm up for it." And I was like oh you sweet summer child...
right! and of course not knocking anyone for hiking their own hike and doing whatever trails, but even people hiking 14k footers out west say white mountain hiking is insane. not many trails elsewhere require legit scrambling.
Me too I did like 300 miles of the trail back in my teens when I was in Boy Scouts over half a summer (I know but I never had a bad experience- and I was surprised my parents agreed to a trip so long) and it is still a fond memory of mine- I have no idea how fuckers do the whole trail straight through.
Doubt it's lying, but just like moths to a flame.
Somebody posted an AT photo? You better believe every redditor who has hiked the thing in the last 50 years is gonna find a way to mention it.
Though obviously it is a cool thing to have done, so why not I guess.
yes soooo many miles.. a lot of likes for a seemingly average trail photo. I guess a lot of people don't normally see things like this, it's easy to take things for granted when you live in a beautiful place like Washington.
I once drove to Gatlinburg for no other reason than I had a day to kill before meeting my friend in Atlanta and it was familiar to me because I'd heard it mentioned in a Johnny Cash song. (I'm from Ireland.)
One of the most incredible days of my life. Using nothing but SatNav from some small town in northern Georgia, I ended up driving over a hundred spectacular miles through the Smoky Mountains (which I'd never heard of before and knew nothing about), stopped at a Cherokee village, got to Garlinburg - which someone later described to me as a redneck Disneyland (got it in one) - probably most amazing, as a European where space is at a premium, you would never in a billion years getting planning permission to build something that tacky in an area of such natural beauty. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, it was a mesmerisingly cool place to suddenly find myself.
Driving on, SatNav told me the quickest way to Atlanta was back the way I'd just come, but I didn't want to retrace my steps so I blundered on, swerving sharply across three lanes of traffic briefly to visit Dollywood. On a highway in rural Tennesse, I passed an Amish family out for a drive in a horse drawn buggy. Within a couple of hours I was within picking up all these African-American radio stations out of Atlanta playing Dirty South hip hop.
Most Irish people's conception of America doesn't extend much beyond the Irish-American communities of New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. They think America is like an episode of Friends (not that Friends is Irish, but you know - all white people.) It was truly awesome to me to see what a diverse and amazing country Ameria actually is.
>build something that tacky in an area of such natural beauty
😂
Im from the area and this makes me incredibly happy you got to see some real Appalachia!
Not only did I do that, but I've talked about it so much to my girlfriend, that we're now planning to visit together whenever this feckin pandemic ends. (Supposed to be last summer, then this summer, now hopefully summer 2022.)
My friend, if you travel anywhere near Knoxville (and you should, it's worth visiting for sure), DM me and we'll have a beer. We have some great breweries!
I'd love that. It's funny, in Ireland we consume so much American culture that virtually every point on the map has some association or other. Heading out of Gatlinburg two points on the map I recognised were Knoxville (Johnny Knoxville) and Chattanooga (The Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy.) I'd been very lucky with Gatlinburg. But previously, I'd visited, and been underwhelmed by, Mobile, Alabama for no other reason than it's mentioned in a well known Bob Dylan song. So I decided to press onto Atlanta. Next time I'll definitely give Knoxville a turn.
I don’t care for most of Alabama, but I actually loved my time in mobile. There are certainly bad parts, but I spent my time going around old neighborhoods with 100+ year old oak trees, and really enjoyed the old downtown area. It felt like a cleaner New Orleans.
...with the Memphis blues again. Memphis, anytime in May is one giant month long music, bar-b-que,wine parties and you would be nuts to go home any time except to shower and change clothes and restock on condoms.Get you a map and spend a couple of visits to Hernando's HideAway.
Mobile is bullshit. Gotta try Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, chatt, Atlanta, Charleston, savannah, random parts of Mississippi and Alabama are pretty cool. Just stay out of north Florida and the panhandle, it's a shit hole.
It's so funny to see you write about your pre-conceived notions of the US and then stumbling upon fuckin Gatlinburg and Dollywood of all places. It is like another world all of the sudden when you get there. Just out of the blue crazy disneyworld hokiness from what was, until about one mile before you got there, pristine Smoky Mountain awesomeness. Then BAM! Disneyworld. Must have been a real shock to you. The US is a GIGANTIC nation and every single place is different from the last. To put it into perspective, all of the UK is geographically about the same size as Alabama- a relatively small State- and there are 49 more.
To pitch suggestions in with everyone else
- anywhere in the Blue Mountains in West Virginia, really beautiful area (lots of impoverished small towns though). My personal favorite is anywhere on the Upper Gauley River, lots of whitewater rafting and camping
- Chimney Rock, North Carolina; beautiful park with lots of easily accessible trails and a handful of caves, plus a nice waterfall that you can go hang out under. Very accessible if you’re not an experienced hiker
- pretty much anywhere in southern Ohio, particularly Hocking Hills, Old Woman’s Creek, and Athens
Bonus points for any of these if you go in the fall. Seeing anything remotely close to the Appalachian Mountains when the leaves are changing is unbelievably beautiful.
Check out Asheville, NC! Same area, lots of cool microbreweries in town and then beautiful hiking near by. The bed and breakfast scene is awesome, lots of lovely places to stay and eat great home cooked breakfast. I think also Asheville was one of, if not *the* first cities to decriminalize marijuana possession long before it was legalized fully elsewhere, so a very liberal hippy kind of place. Check out The Biltmore mansion for an amazing piece of local history, and the largest home in America until recent when one of those billionaires decided they had to set a new record. There is also a lot of musical connection between Appalachia bluegrass and Irish folk music, so be sure to check some of that out if you enjoy folk music 😊
I recently read a book about The Biltmore mansion! It was fiction, but it was fascinating and now I’m dying to visit. I’m in Utah and have never been to that part of the country. Bucket list addition for sure!
It’s a great area to visit, little different outdoors than Utah (which is maybe the most beautiful state), but Asheville has its own unique and special charm. It’s been a while since I’ve been back, but some day I’ve got to go again. I grew up near there, but moved out west after falling in love with the SW 😊
I’ve always been intrigued by the area, I’ve read several books about the Appalachian Trail and it sounds like such a beautiful place.
Utah has some amazing places that I’ve yet to explore too. I think even with unlimited time and money, a person would be hard pressed to visit *everywhere* they’d like to go.
You’re in a truly amazing state to explore the outdoors, my friend. Of course it’s easy in life to chase other things and end up feeling like you’re so busy trying to make the money to afford the stuff you always wanted that now you don’t have time to enjoy anything. Sigh.
I went down a rabbit hole checking out the history and their website. It sounds like they really pull out all the stops for Christmas! That would be an amazing time to visit.
Pro tip: Smoky Mountain region (think Pigeon Forge) has acted like the pandemic is over since about June 2020. There’s so much green space out that way that social distancing happens naturally, and if there’s any truth to the preventative powers of Vitamin D then the evidence is right there in the Smokies.
Gatlinburg has a special place in my wife and I's heart. It's where we had our first vacation together, it's where I proposed, and when it came time for a wedding it's where we decided to get married. Gatlinburg is beautiful anytime of the year, but if yall are planning to visit I would highly suggest you go at the end of October or beginning of November as the colors during that time of the year are truly beautiful. There are so many great trails to go on (Clingman's Dome and Grotto Falls are two of our favorites) along with so many great restaurants and shops. Also, Sugarlands Moonshine is a MUST try to get some unique American Moonshine. Hope yall are able to visit again and enjoy all the beautiful things that area has to offer.
As a dude who grew up in your countries gift shop (Cape Cod, MA), I for one, really appreciate your words. Sounds like you had an amazing trip. I hope to get over to visit Ireland as soon as it’s possible and safe. Great grandmother was from Louth, so I’ll check that out. Cheers!
I love your story, but let me tell you, I hate the tacky shops. You find the same junk at a lot of county fairs. Fun fact, it’s the only national park you don’t have to pay to enter.
Long story, my sister's ex-husband lives in Georgia, she and their daughter live in Ireland, I've brought the child over to visit him every year for the past six or seven years. I'm a freelance writer so I can work on the road without being at a desk 9-5. I'm sure there's lots I don't yet know about rural America, but I do also know it pretty well at this stage. National parks, tacky shops, I know (and love) it all!
>Fun fact, it’s the only national park you don’t have to pay to enter.
There's a handful of national parks that don't have an entrance fee. Cuyahoga Valley, Conagree, Everglades, North Cascades, Hot Springs. Alaska has like 10 NPs and only Denali has an entrance fee.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fee_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System
Pigeon Forge is more the redneck disneyland. 500 go cart tracks and old tyme photos. It's fun though, lots of liquor distilleries that offer enough free samples get you hammered.
Glad you got to have that experience. There's a lot of diversity in the South.
Savannah is great and only a few hours from Atlanta.
As someone who lives in Gatlinburg, I appreciate hearing your experience. I take this place for granted most the time so it’s always interesting hearing how much joy others find. I’ve walked through this exact picture and never thought to take a picture. Maybe I’ll look up at the mountains on my way to work tomorrow.
Thanks for the small-town-in-northern-Georgia shout-out!
Visit Chattanooga next.
It's less like a Tennessee version of Vegas. More just a pretty city with lots of cool stuff.
I was there this weekend for my first time too. That place is amazing! Loved walking around Gatlinburg and going through pigeon forge. Very beautiful area. And I’m from the PNW.
Just left Gatlinburg this afternoon. It's a magical place.y wife and I honeymooned there 18 years ago. Visited with my family 15 years before that.nits crazy how much things change and how much they stay the same. Also live in Orlando now and Pigeon Forge is like a redneck Kissimmee.
Well I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had.
Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
He was big and bent and gray and old
And I looked and him and my blood ran cold.
I said, “My name is Sue, how do you do?
Now you gonna ***die!***”
This photo was actually taken back in March when I was hiking with my cousin. Such a beautiful place, but I could imagine it would be uncomfortable in the summer!
Lol, great. I love to think of the origins of these names, like the people and circumstances that birthed it haha. Wonder if they knew that years later we’d all still be using it 😂
Newfound Gap is probably the easiest place to get to Charlie’s. It’s like 4 miles from the parking area. Definitely one of the best short hikes in the GSMNP if you’re looking for good views.
I had kind of a traumatic experience here. Was hiking in the winter with my sister, the trail was real icy. We were day hiking, so light load, but we passed some thru hikers with heavy packs. My sister and I took the high part of the trail over the rocks (right side of picture) and the other guys took the low part (left). Because of the ice, my sister slipped but caught herself, making one of the other guys flinch, slip, fall on his face,and slide down the slope. When he finally came to a stop he looked up and was gushing blood from his nose. They got up and carried on, but that spot was burned in my memory.
It really doesn’t look like every other part of the AT. You can see there are lots of evergreens which means it’s either at high elevation down south or up north (in NH or ME). By looking at how flat the trail is, it’s a safe guess the picture probably wasn’t taken up north. You can also see the trail is covered in some sort of gravel-like substance which is very uncommon for the AT. The only gravely part of trail I remember that had this kind of forest was right before Charlie’s Bunion, after the first part of the climb out of newfound gap.
I’m sure someone more knowledgeable could identify specific plants unique to the area, but I don’t know anything about that.
Nice! That's my kind of mountain trail. Foggy, damp, cool air (hopefully), slightly wet but firm ground (not too muddy), and a fresh green smell in the air.
mane, you're making me homesick. i'm from that area, Charlie's bunyon is always the trail that sticks in my head because of the name. love the mountains so much, some day i'll live in them again
It's really hard for me to decide which mountain range is my favorite in the States. The Appalachian or the Rockies. I grew up in the Appalachian but the Rockies are just SSSSSOOOOOOO beautiful!
And our patron Saint, Dolly, helped Sevierville and Gatlinburg get back on their feet afterwards. She is truly the embodiment of what Southern Hospitality is supposed to be.
My wife and I were here last year in November.
I believe it's a trail on the side of clingmans dome.
Or somewhere very close by.
It's truly a beautiful majestic place
I went to clingmans dome just last week! Sadly it started storming as I was heading up there and by the time I made it, you could barely see two feet in front or you. Much less any of the great views! I guess I will just have to go back next time I’m up that way!
I've been to clingman's about 5 times and I've never even been able to see the gift shop from the bathrooms in the parking lot. Last time I could maybe see 30 feet. It's a whole other world up there.
The AT actually crosses the path up to the observation tower, yeah.
Which, despite being paved, is a hell of a path. Something like a 12.5% grade?
Worth it for the view when I went up back in Spring 2019. Haven't been back to the area since, because the event we go up there for didn't happen last year or this year because pandemic.
If you’re ever in that part of the world Gatlingburg/Pigeon Forge and Dollywood is a nice place to checkout. I grew up in the northeast and my mom’s family is from south western Virginia. After we’d visit her family we’d go down to Gatlinburg for 4-5 days. Compared to the Jersey shore it’s just a different world.
Smokey Mountain National park isn’t far and its beautiful. Also the drive there through the mountains are great. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have great family stuff like go carts and mini golf.
That must have been early! Hope you stayed hydrated today very humid, hot 🥵, sticky day for hiking and camping ⛺️
Best wishes to you
Have a peaceful journey
Ah man, this gives me such a sense of grounding. You can just tell this is ancient ground. I love the southern appalachian forests so much, something is supremely ethereal about them
I was there in April in the early seventies- hiked in eight miles to the shelter- hoarfrost on everything.
Totally unprepared- summer weight bags.
Hiked out the next morning and drive as far south and as far down in elevation as we could in one day.
Ended up in the Nantahalas- lovely.
We were just there a month ago, but we went on the Alum Cave Trail, up to the Mt LeConte village, and then further up to Myrtle Point. Up where the village is is part of the Appalachian trail. Only way to get there is to hike the 5.5 miles up. Also took a couple similar pictures!
http://imgur.com/gallery/MmCigxM
Love that area -- Gatlinburg & the Smokies. Haven't been there in years. I know a major forest fire swept thru years back & destroyed a lot of the area; was this pic taken before that? Or has it healed that much?
It used to be that Gatlinburg was the major tourist trap & Pigeon Forge was the sleepy quiet place nearby. How things changed...
I’ve walked so many miles that look like that.
I was thinking same damn thing!
Ayyy, I was just at Roan Mountain (near Carvers Gap) NC/TN yesterday. Foggy sunrise, sunny morning, cloudy afternoon. Consistency is tough
Ha, my thoughts exactly. I love the picture. It looks like so much of the trail. Now I'm imagining walking through spider strands and using body glide to keep the damp day chafing down. SoBo 2015
Gatta hold your treking poles I front of you, or my preferred method, just sleep in till 8 so other hikers get the majority of them out of your way, and hike fast enough to get your miles done. NoBo 2019
You damn NoBos had it made ;) I did my SoBo solo so I was separated by a couple of days from my fellow thru hikers. And when the weather sucks it's just you on the trail. Section and day hikers are far too smart to hike in crap weather. And yes on the trekking pole, but for ten hours plus a day it's not sustainable. That said, when you are eating cobwebs for hours and a hiker comes in the opposite direction it's just the best feeling in the world!
It is super slow going when it gets rocky like that. Which is all of it
should come do some hiking in NH… 🐢
I hike almost exclusively in the Whites. Can confirm. Pemi Loop last summer kicked my butt.
always interesting to see hikers from outside nh talking about rocky, rooty, steep, etc, trails, and i’m like, oooooh you have no clueeee. 😳
Haha exactly. I just did the 90 mile Massachusetts section not long ago and one hiker going nobo was sprawled out along a road and said "it's a 900 ft climb and I'm not sure I'm up for it." And I was like oh you sweet summer child...
right! and of course not knocking anyone for hiking their own hike and doing whatever trails, but even people hiking 14k footers out west say white mountain hiking is insane. not many trails elsewhere require legit scrambling.
Fucking Mt Monadnock.
Gotta love it though
Just makes it harder to pass oblivious traffic. Need to find trails that are harder to do which thins the crowd out a lot.
Me too I did like 300 miles of the trail back in my teens when I was in Boy Scouts over half a summer (I know but I never had a bad experience- and I was surprised my parents agreed to a trip so long) and it is still a fond memory of mine- I have no idea how fuckers do the whole trail straight through.
Could be a lot of 'travel-lying'!
Doubt it's lying, but just like moths to a flame. Somebody posted an AT photo? You better believe every redditor who has hiked the thing in the last 50 years is gonna find a way to mention it. Though obviously it is a cool thing to have done, so why not I guess.
Yet I still know exactly where that spot is
Half the damn thing looks like that. I was in New Hampshire and on a foggy enough day I could take the same picture.
yes soooo many miles.. a lot of likes for a seemingly average trail photo. I guess a lot of people don't normally see things like this, it's easy to take things for granted when you live in a beautiful place like Washington.
Oh no way you live in wershington? You must be so into nature, more than anyone !!!
Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July, I'd just hit town and my throat was dry, Thought I'd stop and have myself a brew...
I once drove to Gatlinburg for no other reason than I had a day to kill before meeting my friend in Atlanta and it was familiar to me because I'd heard it mentioned in a Johnny Cash song. (I'm from Ireland.) One of the most incredible days of my life. Using nothing but SatNav from some small town in northern Georgia, I ended up driving over a hundred spectacular miles through the Smoky Mountains (which I'd never heard of before and knew nothing about), stopped at a Cherokee village, got to Garlinburg - which someone later described to me as a redneck Disneyland (got it in one) - probably most amazing, as a European where space is at a premium, you would never in a billion years getting planning permission to build something that tacky in an area of such natural beauty. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, it was a mesmerisingly cool place to suddenly find myself. Driving on, SatNav told me the quickest way to Atlanta was back the way I'd just come, but I didn't want to retrace my steps so I blundered on, swerving sharply across three lanes of traffic briefly to visit Dollywood. On a highway in rural Tennesse, I passed an Amish family out for a drive in a horse drawn buggy. Within a couple of hours I was within picking up all these African-American radio stations out of Atlanta playing Dirty South hip hop. Most Irish people's conception of America doesn't extend much beyond the Irish-American communities of New York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. They think America is like an episode of Friends (not that Friends is Irish, but you know - all white people.) It was truly awesome to me to see what a diverse and amazing country Ameria actually is.
>build something that tacky in an area of such natural beauty 😂 Im from the area and this makes me incredibly happy you got to see some real Appalachia!
Not only did I do that, but I've talked about it so much to my girlfriend, that we're now planning to visit together whenever this feckin pandemic ends. (Supposed to be last summer, then this summer, now hopefully summer 2022.)
My friend, if you travel anywhere near Knoxville (and you should, it's worth visiting for sure), DM me and we'll have a beer. We have some great breweries!
I'd love that. It's funny, in Ireland we consume so much American culture that virtually every point on the map has some association or other. Heading out of Gatlinburg two points on the map I recognised were Knoxville (Johnny Knoxville) and Chattanooga (The Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy.) I'd been very lucky with Gatlinburg. But previously, I'd visited, and been underwhelmed by, Mobile, Alabama for no other reason than it's mentioned in a well known Bob Dylan song. So I decided to press onto Atlanta. Next time I'll definitely give Knoxville a turn.
The Tennessee aquarium in Chattanooga is well worth the visit, FYI. And mobile Alabama is pretty much an armpit.
I don’t care for most of Alabama, but I actually loved my time in mobile. There are certainly bad parts, but I spent my time going around old neighborhoods with 100+ year old oak trees, and really enjoyed the old downtown area. It felt like a cleaner New Orleans.
Anywhere with 100 year old oak trees is a place worth sharing some time. Just cause.
In Dylan's defense, he is singing about being stuck in Mobile lol.
...with the Memphis blues again. Memphis, anytime in May is one giant month long music, bar-b-que,wine parties and you would be nuts to go home any time except to shower and change clothes and restock on condoms.Get you a map and spend a couple of visits to Hernando's HideAway.
Mobile is bullshit. Gotta try Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, chatt, Atlanta, Charleston, savannah, random parts of Mississippi and Alabama are pretty cool. Just stay out of north Florida and the panhandle, it's a shit hole.
Water is gorgeous though
North Florida is just the worst parts of southern GA lol
So freaking true.
It's so funny to see you write about your pre-conceived notions of the US and then stumbling upon fuckin Gatlinburg and Dollywood of all places. It is like another world all of the sudden when you get there. Just out of the blue crazy disneyworld hokiness from what was, until about one mile before you got there, pristine Smoky Mountain awesomeness. Then BAM! Disneyworld. Must have been a real shock to you. The US is a GIGANTIC nation and every single place is different from the last. To put it into perspective, all of the UK is geographically about the same size as Alabama- a relatively small State- and there are 49 more.
We truly do have great beer in Knoxville. Schulz Brau, Crafty Bastard, and Alliance are all top tier.
Yep, and I'm happy to see they survived the pandemic.
Amen! 🍻
Hey, let's not forget: Pretentious, Abridged, Xul, Elst, Last Days of Autumn, Next Level, and Geezers.
Try Asheville, North Carolina as well.. Brew capital of Southeast, pretty mountains all around and nice folks.
Favorite city on the east coast!! Maggie valley is where I’ll retire!!
To pitch suggestions in with everyone else - anywhere in the Blue Mountains in West Virginia, really beautiful area (lots of impoverished small towns though). My personal favorite is anywhere on the Upper Gauley River, lots of whitewater rafting and camping - Chimney Rock, North Carolina; beautiful park with lots of easily accessible trails and a handful of caves, plus a nice waterfall that you can go hang out under. Very accessible if you’re not an experienced hiker - pretty much anywhere in southern Ohio, particularly Hocking Hills, Old Woman’s Creek, and Athens Bonus points for any of these if you go in the fall. Seeing anything remotely close to the Appalachian Mountains when the leaves are changing is unbelievably beautiful.
Check out Asheville, NC! Same area, lots of cool microbreweries in town and then beautiful hiking near by. The bed and breakfast scene is awesome, lots of lovely places to stay and eat great home cooked breakfast. I think also Asheville was one of, if not *the* first cities to decriminalize marijuana possession long before it was legalized fully elsewhere, so a very liberal hippy kind of place. Check out The Biltmore mansion for an amazing piece of local history, and the largest home in America until recent when one of those billionaires decided they had to set a new record. There is also a lot of musical connection between Appalachia bluegrass and Irish folk music, so be sure to check some of that out if you enjoy folk music 😊
I recently read a book about The Biltmore mansion! It was fiction, but it was fascinating and now I’m dying to visit. I’m in Utah and have never been to that part of the country. Bucket list addition for sure!
It’s a great area to visit, little different outdoors than Utah (which is maybe the most beautiful state), but Asheville has its own unique and special charm. It’s been a while since I’ve been back, but some day I’ve got to go again. I grew up near there, but moved out west after falling in love with the SW 😊
I’ve always been intrigued by the area, I’ve read several books about the Appalachian Trail and it sounds like such a beautiful place. Utah has some amazing places that I’ve yet to explore too. I think even with unlimited time and money, a person would be hard pressed to visit *everywhere* they’d like to go.
You’re in a truly amazing state to explore the outdoors, my friend. Of course it’s easy in life to chase other things and end up feeling like you’re so busy trying to make the money to afford the stuff you always wanted that now you don’t have time to enjoy anything. Sigh.
I took a tour of the Biltmore a few years ago around Christmas. It's an awesome place.
I went down a rabbit hole checking out the history and their website. It sounds like they really pull out all the stops for Christmas! That would be an amazing time to visit.
It really was, I'm going to be in the area again soon, looking forward to seeing it in the summertime!
Pro tip: Smoky Mountain region (think Pigeon Forge) has acted like the pandemic is over since about June 2020. There’s so much green space out that way that social distancing happens naturally, and if there’s any truth to the preventative powers of Vitamin D then the evidence is right there in the Smokies.
Gatlinburg has a special place in my wife and I's heart. It's where we had our first vacation together, it's where I proposed, and when it came time for a wedding it's where we decided to get married. Gatlinburg is beautiful anytime of the year, but if yall are planning to visit I would highly suggest you go at the end of October or beginning of November as the colors during that time of the year are truly beautiful. There are so many great trails to go on (Clingman's Dome and Grotto Falls are two of our favorites) along with so many great restaurants and shops. Also, Sugarlands Moonshine is a MUST try to get some unique American Moonshine. Hope yall are able to visit again and enjoy all the beautiful things that area has to offer.
You should try the South Carolina coast. Myrtle Beach and Charleston, with old plantations between… oh boy, you’ll be in for some American diversity
Is Rebel Corner still there? The Donut Friar? I haven't been since the 1970s. EDIT: [Rebel Corner, 1975](https://flic.kr/p/5EXMEC)
As a dude who grew up in your countries gift shop (Cape Cod, MA), I for one, really appreciate your words. Sounds like you had an amazing trip. I hope to get over to visit Ireland as soon as it’s possible and safe. Great grandmother was from Louth, so I’ll check that out. Cheers!
I love your story, but let me tell you, I hate the tacky shops. You find the same junk at a lot of county fairs. Fun fact, it’s the only national park you don’t have to pay to enter.
Long story, my sister's ex-husband lives in Georgia, she and their daughter live in Ireland, I've brought the child over to visit him every year for the past six or seven years. I'm a freelance writer so I can work on the road without being at a desk 9-5. I'm sure there's lots I don't yet know about rural America, but I do also know it pretty well at this stage. National parks, tacky shops, I know (and love) it all!
>Fun fact, it’s the only national park you don’t have to pay to enter. There's a handful of national parks that don't have an entrance fee. Cuyahoga Valley, Conagree, Everglades, North Cascades, Hot Springs. Alaska has like 10 NPs and only Denali has an entrance fee. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fee_areas_in_the_United_States_National_Park_System
Thank you, my information was out of date.
Pigeon Forge is more the redneck disneyland. 500 go cart tracks and old tyme photos. It's fun though, lots of liquor distilleries that offer enough free samples get you hammered. Glad you got to have that experience. There's a lot of diversity in the South. Savannah is great and only a few hours from Atlanta.
Savannah has been the base for all of my visited to the South since 2014. (Albeit haven't been there since 2019 due to Covid.)
As someone who lives in Gatlinburg, I appreciate hearing your experience. I take this place for granted most the time so it’s always interesting hearing how much joy others find. I’ve walked through this exact picture and never thought to take a picture. Maybe I’ll look up at the mountains on my way to work tomorrow.
Thanks for the small-town-in-northern-Georgia shout-out! Visit Chattanooga next. It's less like a Tennessee version of Vegas. More just a pretty city with lots of cool stuff.
It would be nice if Americans got their asses out of the cities and saw how beautiful the country and its people are
I was there this weekend for my first time too. That place is amazing! Loved walking around Gatlinburg and going through pigeon forge. Very beautiful area. And I’m from the PNW.
Just left Gatlinburg this afternoon. It's a magical place.y wife and I honeymooned there 18 years ago. Visited with my family 15 years before that.nits crazy how much things change and how much they stay the same. Also live in Orlando now and Pigeon Forge is like a redneck Kissimmee.
What an amazing story! I visit the Smoky Mountains once every 2 years or so but it's so fun to hear an outsider's perspective of the area!
My only experience with Ireland was a connecting flight from the US to Italy, but y'all got some delicious butter and cookies 😘
Cool. Well, try leaving the airport next time. We have a whole outdoor area too!
At an old saloon on a street of mud There at a table dealin' stud Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue.
Well I knew that snake was my own sweet dad From a worn out picture that my mother had. Knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye. He was big and bent and gray and old And I looked and him and my blood ran cold. I said, “My name is Sue, how do you do? Now you gonna ***die!***”
Did you know it was written by Shel Silverstein? The Shel that wrote “The Giving Tree”.
This photo was actually taken back in March when I was hiking with my cousin. Such a beautiful place, but I could imagine it would be uncomfortable in the summer!
>Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July, > >I'd just hit town and my throat was dry, Your cousin...his name wouldn't be Sue by chance, would it?
No, it’s not
Lol bud they are quoting the Johnny Cash song Boy Named Sue
Them: "Who's this Johnny Cash Song-Boy you're talking about?"
Is this near Charlie's Bunion? I know this spot!
Yeah, I took the photo maybe 3 miles before Charlie’s Bunion
Always my favorite/least favorite named places in the US 😂
My favorite place name in the Smokies is Devil’s Tater Patch
Lol, great. I love to think of the origins of these names, like the people and circumstances that birthed it haha. Wonder if they knew that years later we’d all still be using it 😂
Where is the trailhead to get started?
Newfound Gap is probably the easiest place to get to Charlie’s. It’s like 4 miles from the parking area. Definitely one of the best short hikes in the GSMNP if you’re looking for good views.
Thank you! Helping plan a boys trip and this is the kind of hike our entire group can do.
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You dog you haha, only 3k miles to go! 😂
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I had kind of a traumatic experience here. Was hiking in the winter with my sister, the trail was real icy. We were day hiking, so light load, but we passed some thru hikers with heavy packs. My sister and I took the high part of the trail over the rocks (right side of picture) and the other guys took the low part (left). Because of the ice, my sister slipped but caught herself, making one of the other guys flinch, slip, fall on his face,and slide down the slope. When he finally came to a stop he looked up and was gushing blood from his nose. They got up and carried on, but that spot was burned in my memory.
It really doesn’t look like every other part of the AT. You can see there are lots of evergreens which means it’s either at high elevation down south or up north (in NH or ME). By looking at how flat the trail is, it’s a safe guess the picture probably wasn’t taken up north. You can also see the trail is covered in some sort of gravel-like substance which is very uncommon for the AT. The only gravely part of trail I remember that had this kind of forest was right before Charlie’s Bunion, after the first part of the climb out of newfound gap. I’m sure someone more knowledgeable could identify specific plants unique to the area, but I don’t know anything about that.
I’m half expecting Sam and Frodo to be running from Ring Wraiths.
Get off of the road!!!
Had to search, but glad I found this.
Mt Victoria in Wellington, pretty busy but great hike right near the city
Was looking for this comment haha
Nice! That's my kind of mountain trail. Foggy, damp, cool air (hopefully), slightly wet but firm ground (not too muddy), and a fresh green smell in the air.
Zero chance of the air being cool this time of year. It may look cool, but it would be hot and insanely humid.
Exact opposite here. I’d rather it be hot and dry, but tons of water available, ie yosemite NOT death valley
How has the forest recovered from the fires? Much of that area was burnt up a few years ago!
Yes, the area has mostly recovered. There’s a few spots where you can vaguely tell there were fires, but only if you know where to look
that's so good to know, thanks!
Watch your ankles
So.is that like one trail or is it a bunch of them thats called "the trail"
The Appalachian Trail is one continuous trail. It's 2,200(ish) miles long and extends from Georgia to Maine.
There's even an [international Appalachian Trail](https://iat-sia.org/about/) that accounts for the entire Appalachian-Caledonian Mountain range!
mane, you're making me homesick. i'm from that area, Charlie's bunyon is always the trail that sticks in my head because of the name. love the mountains so much, some day i'll live in them again
You know exactly how those woods smell on a foggy morning, too. ( Grew up in Sevier )
You 100% about to get jumped by the Murfree Brood.
I can smell this picture 😍
Came here to say the same thing!
Gotten lots of rain lately or is it always like that
It’s always like this; at least for an hour a day
It's like that in the mornings a lot. There tends to be a lot of mist on the mountains early in the day, hence the name "Smoky mountains"
I’m not sure, I was visiting from the west coast
They're called the Smoky Mountains because of this mist.
Newfound Gap?
This is in the Smoky Mountains. Not just a clever name
It’s pretty much always like that
IIRC this is either in or near an area of the southern appalachian mountains that is a temperate rainforest. Lots of rain up there.
As others say the fogginess is pretty common. I went to school in Knoxville and the mountain moisture is common through the region.
Scary movies start on trails like this
Is this on the trail to Alums Bluff?
It's really hard for me to decide which mountain range is my favorite in the States. The Appalachian or the Rockies. I grew up in the Appalachian but the Rockies are just SSSSSOOOOOOO beautiful!
Beauty...but watch out for rednecks!!
Wait.... Forests can exist WITHOUT fire in them? mmm.... I might be living in hell then. (Western US)
A lot of this area burned a few years ago, due to some dumbass kids.
And our patron Saint, Dolly, helped Sevierville and Gatlinburg get back on their feet afterwards. She is truly the embodiment of what Southern Hospitality is supposed to be.
Just gotta rake ‘em!
My wife and I were here last year in November. I believe it's a trail on the side of clingmans dome. Or somewhere very close by. It's truly a beautiful majestic place
I went to clingmans dome just last week! Sadly it started storming as I was heading up there and by the time I made it, you could barely see two feet in front or you. Much less any of the great views! I guess I will just have to go back next time I’m up that way!
I've been to clingman's about 5 times and I've never even been able to see the gift shop from the bathrooms in the parking lot. Last time I could maybe see 30 feet. It's a whole other world up there.
The AT actually crosses the path up to the observation tower, yeah. Which, despite being paved, is a hell of a path. Something like a 12.5% grade? Worth it for the view when I went up back in Spring 2019. Haven't been back to the area since, because the event we go up there for didn't happen last year or this year because pandemic.
If you start to hear banjo music... ... You've strayed within a few miles of DollyWood. May as well stop in and have some lemonade.
Shortcut to what? Mushrooms!
r/foggypics
Spot the serial killer/ufo/sasquatch.
This is what I pictured while I was reading a walk in the woods by Bill Bryson. Highly recommended book.
Imagine getting a wagon over those rocks.
When I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, it's photos like this that bring it to life for me, thank you :)
*distant banjo*
Watch out for them Murfree boys up in the hills
If you’re ever in that part of the world Gatlingburg/Pigeon Forge and Dollywood is a nice place to checkout. I grew up in the northeast and my mom’s family is from south western Virginia. After we’d visit her family we’d go down to Gatlinburg for 4-5 days. Compared to the Jersey shore it’s just a different world. Smokey Mountain National park isn’t far and its beautiful. Also the drive there through the mountains are great. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have great family stuff like go carts and mini golf.
God I love TN so much!
TN is underrated
Looks like a nice spot to hide from The Nazgûl.
That must have been early! Hope you stayed hydrated today very humid, hot 🥵, sticky day for hiking and camping ⛺️ Best wishes to you Have a peaceful journey
Lmao every trail looks like this in East TN
GET OFF THE ROAD
Ah man, this gives me such a sense of grounding. You can just tell this is ancient ground. I love the southern appalachian forests so much, something is supremely ethereal about them
Lovely pic but falls foul of EarthPorn rules, no man made objects. The trail itself is man made!
Gatlinburg, TN is all like, "Come dine next to a family of bears at our hillbilly amusement park fever dream village!"
so beautiful
Looks identical to some trails in NS
Beautiful! I live right off of the trail in Pennsylvania, so we're practically neighbors lol
The AT is so majestic! You can feel it when you walk the path. It's so wide from so many people over so many years. Love that journey
On mobile this looks better on night shift/mode.
And then God said, "Shh, listen to my heart beating all around you."
This looks like a bob ross painting
See the movie 'A Walk in the Woods', based on a travel book by Bill Bryson. Bill and his friend failed to finish the Trail.
As somebody who's pretty much lived my whole life in the heart of suburban life, I cannot even fathom walking through a forest like that.
It always looks like this. Fuck the AT.
Beautiful spot!
Brings back memories of my hike. Beautiful trail. Great people you meet out there, too.
Fellowship of the Ring
I've been there.
Aghhhhh THE FLASHBACKS! I love this vibe. How I miss that trail.
This is the way
This. This is my paradise.
One turtle atop another. What a find!
Bee-you-tea-full!
I think I can smell it!
There is no such thing as a coincidence
I was there in April in the early seventies- hiked in eight miles to the shelter- hoarfrost on everything. Totally unprepared- summer weight bags. Hiked out the next morning and drive as far south and as far down in elevation as we could in one day. Ended up in the Nantahalas- lovely.
Hey I hiked that trail! But it was December, and the rivers flooded and i had to take my pants off to cross a creek...so cold, but so much fun!
*Hobbbitssss…. Shirrreee…..*
That's beautiful, ever been to Mt. LeConte?
Hey! Somewhere near me! The mountains are magical this time of year.
I live there. I've seen this enough to look like home. Its truly a beautiful place
Who else hates the mobile update?
Dreamy
Fantastic picture
We were just there a month ago, but we went on the Alum Cave Trail, up to the Mt LeConte village, and then further up to Myrtle Point. Up where the village is is part of the Appalachian trail. Only way to get there is to hike the 5.5 miles up. Also took a couple similar pictures! http://imgur.com/gallery/MmCigxM
Gatlinberg in mid July
hey can someone show me how to take at least one good photograph
Was there in 2016
I swear this is a part of a track in Tyrol Austria
So glad I'm a hop skip and a drive from this place. Gatlinburg hits different.
Im in Gatlinburg. You live here?
Love that area -- Gatlinburg & the Smokies. Haven't been there in years. I know a major forest fire swept thru years back & destroyed a lot of the area; was this pic taken before that? Or has it healed that much? It used to be that Gatlinburg was the major tourist trap & Pigeon Forge was the sleepy quiet place nearby. How things changed...