Great Smoke! It's a diesel?

Friday, June 14th

Today we had train tickets to ride the Great Smoky Mountain Railway, from Bryson City, NC through the Nantahala Gorge of the Great Smoky Mountains. We had to be at the station at 10am, and we were not sure how long the drive from Pigeon Forge to Bryson City would take us, since we had to drive through the entire Smoky Mountain National Park from North to South. We left extra-early, and we are glad we did, as we made a few stops for photos along the way.

Unique corkscrew turn!

Tunnel!

View of the Smoky Mountain Range.

Us at the state line, located in the park.

More great views!

This was a restroom facility, probably buit by the CCC

Most of the drive looked like this, solid forest and tree canopy over the highway.

Once we arrived, we toured the extensive Lionel model train exhibit and museum, and looked around their gift shop. We boarded at 10am, and the train, pulled by a DIESEL, (boo!) left at 10:30. We had a great coach, the Dillsboro. The diesel locomotives just don't have the sights and sounds you'd expect on these excursion trains, but I understand it's getting harder and harder to maintain and operate them.

The engine

The train, ready to go

Our railcar, the Dillsboro

The scenery is amazing, lots and lots of thick forest and green, green, green! Pictures cannot do it justice. We crossed over a great trestle bridge over Fontana lake. This is an impound lake, created by the Fontana Dam. We saw lots of house boats, and after taking a pic, I thought of my friend, Dale, who's always looking for a great "escape" location to live.

Crossing the trestle

A house/boat on Lake Fontana

Another great homestead

About 1:00, we pulled into the Nantahala Outdoor Center, for a one-hour layover. Tony and I had already eaten sandwhich wraps on the train, so we mainly walked around or sat on the edge of the river, and watched kayakers and rafters coming down the Nantahala river. The water was cool and fast, and created a nice breeze off of it as we dangled our feet over the edge. It was quite peaceful!

A walking bridge over the river. Someone offered to take our picture.

Real live roaring rapids on the Nantahala River

We boarded the train again, and off we went back to Bryson City. The train was gently swaying, the cool breeze coming in through the windows, and I almost could have fallen asleep. Except for the train horn (long, long, short, long), at all the crossings as we approached Bryson City.

Engine moving to opposite end of train, to haul us back to Bryson City

Curving to the right 

Curving to the left 

We had a great trip and really enjoyed the scenery on the train-ride. I highly recommend it!

After we left Bryson City to head back to the RV Park, Tony decided to take a scenic detour, and took us down the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few miles. Now we can say we've been on it!

After that, we decided to take the road up to Clingmans Dome, to see the observation tower. At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. Little did we know there was a 1/2 mile hike, uphill (luckily paved), to get to the observation tower! We stopped at the park store before we attempted this, and I picked out a shirt and a bottled water. It took us many rest stops, as we would get winded from the elevation, but we made it. We drank nearly the entire 20 oz. water, too! And it was worth it! Wow, what views!!!

After the .5-mile hike, you got to climb this ranp!

Half-way up the ranp

wow. worth the hike!

Tony at the top

After retuning back to the truck, we headed back home. Unfortunately, we were delayed at a steep corkscrew curve, where an accident had occurred between an SUV and a motorcycle. We had to wait about 30-45 minutes as emergency vehicles arrived and took care of things, then opened the road back to traffic. We finally got home about 8:00 and ate leftover pot-roast. The kitties were very glad to see us!

Waiting on the corkscrew curve

Just as it got dark, suddenly, there were fireworks, just beyond the trees! We couldn't see them, but could hear them. boom, boom, boom! Tony went outside and down the street to see if he could see the show, but I had to handle responding to some work emails that were delayed since we were in the National Park (no cell service). Once that was done, I decided to get the blog written, even if I can't get the pics in tonight. We're wiped out! Even though we have plans to visit some other areas of the SMNP, we'll have to see how we feel tomorrow.