Tim Xu

The park is quite beautiful. We spent pretty much the whole day driving up to its peak, then walking around its natural trails. Lots of walking and climbing (and falling) today, but it was pretty amazing. It also reminded me of what we can do to the beauty of nature, as a lot of the trees in the park were dead due to human-introduced bugs and acid rain from pollution. The dead, white, leafless trees stood as a gaunt and dramatic reminder of our sometimes terrible influences.

Most of those trees were along the trail to Clingmans Dome, which, at 6,643 feet, is the highest point in the park. It was a 17 mile drive into the park and a half mile hike uphill, but the view was fantastic. The mountains were blue, layered, and quite “smoky.” It was a great view, but again ruined by all those bleached, dead trees.

The dead trees ruin the view...

We then headed off to the Roaring Fork Nature Trail. We stopped a couple of times to check out the creek and went on one particularly long (1.5 mile) trail to see a 25-foot waterfall. Some of the scenery was truly breathtaking, but at the end of the day, it was just a lot of trees and greenery. There was really nothing to die for, which I guess was a little disappointing. Also, the wildlife was pretty much absent. There was a sign that said “Bears Active,” which got me excited; but alas, no bears interrupted our hike.

Grotto Falls, off the Roaring Fork Motor Trail

But there were definitely a lot of waterfalls, small and large, and it was worth the rock-climbing and sore legs. Whitewater rafting (I think) tomorrow!