I looked up the weather, phoned a friend, and planned our vehicle shuttle for a pick up at Balsam Mountain Trail. We were about to embark on 15.9 miles of backcountry hiking to complete 4.1 miles of trail that is notorious for difficult water crossings in the spring. Knowing our
Did you know that there are more than 1,000 species of rhododendron in the world? Can you name the four species we have in the Smokies? I learned these things and more when I edited an article by Courtney Lix for publication in the current issue of Smokies Life. Courtney’s
Many visitors to the Smokies are familiar with the Civilian Conservation Corps. This Depression-era government program was one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s most popular and successful relief programs. Millions of young men were fed, clothed and housed, and in return, they planted more than 3 billion trees, worked on soil
FF: How do you define a spider? KC: Any member of the order Araneae in the class Arachnida with two main body parts and with two unique characteristics: silk produced through spinnerets located on the abdomen, and the male pedipalp as an organ for transferring sperm to the female. FF:
On July 13, 1973, near where Rough Fork Creek intersects with the end of the main Cataloochee Valley road, seasonal national park ranger Charles Hughes had a violent encounter with the “wild man” of Cataloochee. Hughes was checking up on fishermen along Rough Fork when he met a man with
During late May and early June, thousands of eager observers from around the world travel to the Elkmont area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to observe the phenomenon of synchronized fireflies flashing in the night. The synchronized flashing was first scientifically documented in the Smokies in the 1960s and
However, mountain folk in the Smokies, who were famously playful with language and humour, likely had more versions of booger than any other culture. A place that was thick with undergrowth could be “boogery.” An easily frightened horse or other animal was labelled “boogerish,” and being “boogerous” was to have
Hagstrum has noted that homing pigeons, the gold medalist of the avian navigational world, have amazing hearing. On the low end of the sound range, pigeons can hear down to .05 hertz, compared to humans who hear only to .20 hertz. According to Hagstrum, if we could hear down to
During the early to mid 19th-century, in some remote areas of the Great Smoky Mountains and elsewhere in rural America, Christmas might be celebrated in January, not December. Stranger still, one of the old Christmas traditions was to stay up until midnight of Christmas Eve (January 5) and go into
I looked up the weather, phoned a friend, and planned our vehicle shuttle for a pick up at Balsam Mountain Trail. We were about to
Did you know that there are more than 1,000 species of rhododendron in the world? Can you name the four species we have in the
Many visitors to the Smokies are familiar with the Civilian Conservation Corps. This Depression-era government program was one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s most popular and
FF: How do you define a spider? KC: Any member of the order Araneae in the class Arachnida with two main body parts and with
On July 13, 1973, near where Rough Fork Creek intersects with the end of the main Cataloochee Valley road, seasonal national park ranger Charles Hughes
During late May and early June, thousands of eager observers from around the world travel to the Elkmont area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
However, mountain folk in the Smokies, who were famously playful with language and humour, likely had more versions of booger than any other culture. A
Hagstrum has noted that homing pigeons, the gold medalist of the avian navigational world, have amazing hearing. On the low end of the sound range,
During the early to mid 19th-century, in some remote areas of the Great Smoky Mountains and elsewhere in rural America, Christmas might be celebrated in
The Great Smokies Welcome Center is located on U.S. 321 in Townsend, TN, 2 miles from the west entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Visitors can get information about things to see and do in and around the national park and shop from a wide selection of books, gifts, and other Smokies merchandise. Daily, weekly, and annual parking tags for the national park are also available.
