Day 48 ~ Pigeon Forge, TN

With the colors changing so quickly here in Tennessee, John and I decided we would take a nice Sunday drive up to Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park.  The locals are saying the leaves are falling a lot earlier than normal this year.  The leaves are turning here at the campground, but of course they are really turning color up on the higher elevations.

We left around 11:30, thinking we would be at the Dome by 12:30.  Well, we took the LONG and WINDY road to Clingman's Dome!  The drive was incredibly beautiful, but the roads are so darn narrow!  John had to pull in his side mirror in fear that someone was going to hit it from the other direction!

At 6,643 feet, we were finally there!  Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It IS the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi.  We took the path to the top of the dome which is extremely steep, but paved!  It's a little over a 1/2 mile hike to the top.  Once you get to the top, they have built an interesting structure that gets you above the treeline and gives you the best view inside the park.  We saw views of Tennessee and North Carolina.  On really clear days you can see four states from the dome.  You can also access the Appalachian Trail at Clingman's Dome.  It is a continuous marked footpath (a distance of about 2,160 miles) that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia.  I really wasn't in much of a mood for a hike like that today!!

We enjoyed the views and spent about 2 hours sightseeing at the dome, then headed back to camp!  A little overcast today and cooler than it has been.  Our neighbors in the campground left today and John and I hustled over to their campsite and got all the wood they left behind.  We're so darn cheap!!!  So a nice fire in the evening, the sound of crickets in the background and a wonderful evening it turned out to be!  Fantastic Sunday.