After a very long slow drive from Chattanooga thru Dollywood (An amusement park the size of a small town, with everything you could think of that says country in the Smoky Mountains of TN. It reminded me of the Clampett’s hometown, you know the Beverly Hills family, to the Red Skeleton Show, to Dolly herself. It looked like Las Vegas without the slot machines!), then thru Gatlinburg (where there was at least 100,000 cars and people everywhere!), to finally the Great Smoky Mountain highway leading to Newfound Gap. I parked the car intending to walk up the road, but I knew the Appalachian Trail was close at hand and I couldn’t resist it’s pull. So I hiked 7.9 mile up the trail to the high point of TN, Clingman’s Dome. Hiking up the trail I met a dozen or more ‘thru’ hikers on their way to the trail’s terminus. Everyone was friendly. It was a lot of fun chatting with them. And I can see why people want to hike this trail for whatever reason. Stepping on rocks and stumps of trees that were obviously not only weather worn, but also because of the 1,000’s of foot steps before me. It was ruggedly beautiful. At the top there was a constant stream of people walking from the visitor’s center parking lot to the dome. The actual natural high point is a rock adjacent to the dome’s supporting wall.
