Smoky Mountains

After spending the holidays in Illinois with my family, we packed up the car and headed 700 miles south towards the Smoky Mountains.  My aunt and uncle and cousins drove up from Georgia and we drove down from Wisconsin/Illinois.  The Smoky Mt National Park straddles Tennessee and North Carolina and though it has it's own name, the mountain range is really remnants of the Appalachian Mountains.  Because the mountain range is so far south, they don't get snow like we do in Wisconsin, though the temperatures up at the peaks typically fall below freezing in the winter.  When we drove through, it was interesting to see all of the frozen icicles formed from dripping water and to see rushing waterfalls from mountain runoff.  To our surprise, we saw an elk and a coyote as we drove through the mountain pass... both moving too fast to snap a photo! Learn more about the animals, history and Cherokee Indian culture here.

While we were driving through the mountain pass at dusk, we stopped to take a few photos.  The snow was only on the west side of every hill side and tree because the west setting sun warmed it enough to melt.  The east sides were still snow covered.  

Some photos from hiking and driving adventures...

If the temperature is cold enough, places where waterfalls occur in the summer turn to frozen ice drips in the winter.  The ice looks so pretty when the sun catches it, but don't walk underneath them! 

My cousin Julia and me hanging out on a mountain top.  

Sadly, I haven't seen a bear yet... but we found evidence!! Because it rained so much, the ground was pretty muddy and we were able to see lots of tracks. 

River walking with Gunny and Julia.