Winter in the Smokies

[karenandbill]

We decided to leave the cold and snow of Idaho for a break to the warmth of the Southeast. We had lived for four years in Tennessee a while ago, but remembered the winters as being fairly mild. We enjoy hiking and thought it would be a great place to warm up and be able to get outside. This was what greeted us on our first hike in the Smokies!

DSCF9630 by William Reinke, on Flickr

DSCF9628 by William Reinke, on Flickr

DSCF9635 by William Reinke, on Flickr

DSCF9639 by William Reinke, on Flickr

The snow has not been deep and was actually fairly pleasant to hike in. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of days with cold rain, occasionally mixed with a little snow, which is not great hiking weather. There have been a couple of warm, very pleasant days, but that has been it. The days we have been out we have seen some beautiful areas. The waterfalls have been spectacular!

DSCF9611 by William Reinke, on Flickr

DSCF9608 by William Reinke, on Flickr

We have not seen much in the way of wildlife, but we have been spoiled by our Yellowstone area hikes. We have seen a few deer, squirrels, and two very handsome Tom turkeys along the trails. On one of the warm days we did see a couple black bear tracks but didn't see the bear.

Anyway, it has been a nice break for us and we thought we'd share a little something to help break up the monotony of winter. After we are able to get beck into Yellowstone, we will post if we see something significant.

[RikWriter]

Beautiful pictures.

[mdtrot]

Nice! There is a big elk herd around the Hiram Caldwell House in the Cataloochee area of GSMNP. I saw them in 2012.

[karenandbill]

Nice! There is a big elk herd around the Hiram Caldwell House in the Cataloochee area of GSMNP. I saw them in 2012.

We saw them a number of years ago also. Not sure if we will make it over there this time, but if we do, we will post pictures.

[Dorothy]

What gorgeous photos! I spent a day and a half in the Smokies a couple of years ago and saw that elk herd, too -- not much else by way of animals, but some beautiful scenery (was traveling with folks who weren't into getting up early to get to animal spots when viewing is likely to be best) and would love to go back again. Thanks for taking me there through your photos!