Tuesday, November 01, 2005

normal blogging to resume friday

Right now, I'm writing this post from Pigeon Forge, TN, just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Yay, vacation! I will take plenty of pics, have no fear, but since this motel has only dial-up, I won't be uploading many to Flickr until I get back home and have my high-speed access again.

Monday's adventure was getting out of town, and finally getting to the Mountains. My husband and I are on this little getaway, and tonight we went straight up to the top of the ridge, and stradled the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, at Newfound Gap. The stars were amazing, for the first time in many years I could look up and see the Milky Way stretching across the sky, no artifical lights (aside from the occasional car) for miles. We were cold, since the Park got about a foot of snow last week at the higher elevations, and we were up at something like 5500', over a mile up. There was still snow in the shady places, and neither of us were really prepared for the cold. Later this week, we'll dress warmer and take some shots of the night sky. In the mean time, it's a text version of the day.

Red wolves have been re-introduced to the Park after having been exinct from the area for years, to add another predator back into the mix. We reached the Park about sundown, and went up to the top of the ridge, Newfound Gap, to look at the stars, which were absolutely amazing. We saw one trotting up the road on our way up to Newfound Gap, then one at the Newfound Gap parking lot. Stay tuned to find out what other kind of animals we see...

2 comments:

Ballpoint Wren said...

Get back to work already!

Heh!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I bet it is just gorgeous up there, with the leaves changing color and all. I've only been there in the spring and summer, and haven't had a chance to experience it yet.

Can't wait to see pics!

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