Smoky Mountains: Sep 7, 2006

Yes, I am so thrilled about my visit to the smokies that i wanted to write about it. It was the labor day long weekend and i happened to do some hiking in the TN, smokies. The drive itself was sooo beautiful…it is the perfect break I wanted off from work.. These mountains are so aptly named ’smoky’…they literally appear as if a fire was put off and all that remains is smoke…but ofcourse the smoke is white in color and hence looks beautiful…well ofcourse it is not smoke…its the clouds that are so close to the mountain surface, they appear to emanate from within. these clouds are infact sometimes close to the bottom of the valley inbetween the mountains.

I hiked 6 miles at the Laurel Falls and beyond..i guess the hike was called cove mountain trail..I am not sure…due to the weekend rush..the Laurel falls which also happens to be one of the popular hikes was crowded with people. .you couldnt walk 0.1 mile without bumping into another human being. Plenty of Desis. The fall was very beautiful initself but was not worth the hype….what wasdissappointing the most was that it was infested with humans….defeating the purpose of taking a hike in the mountains…but ofcourse i was one of them at that time…we decided to continue to hike beyond this point and that was the most beautiful hike. It was walking in a beautiful and safe rain forest…lush green and the unforgettable aroma…seems like i can close my eyes and recollect the aroma anytime….very refreshing….

Cades cove drive, which is also very popular was good but not great…we saw two black bears in distance on a tree and some deers….the view of mountians and forest was decent. another good hike was the 1 mile roundtrip hike at the clingmans dome beyond the TN-NC border….the weather was perfect to take a walk in clouds at the highest peak in smokys at about 6600 feet… the clouds were moving pretty fast across our paths…i got reminded of the ‘aamani paadave haayigaa …” song from geetanjali…. would defenitely recommend as a holiday getaway….

please dont stay in downtown gatlinburg or pigeon forge…that place is so soooo commercialized, we were shocked at first…took a moment to realize we were still in smokies and not Las Vegas…this place is full of mini Golf…atleast 20 within a mile and go karting. there are some popular dinner theaters, which we chose not to go to…we were there for the beauty of nature ofcourse….not for commercial entertainment….well…people were flocked inthese places neverthles…defenitely a memorable time