THE SMOKIES WAKE UP AFTER A VERY WET WEEKEND

SUNSET ON COLD MOUNTAIN

SPRING COMES TO THE SMOKIES

SUNRISE IN THE SMOKIES

NEWFOUND GAP ROAD OPEN IN GSMNP

Work to reopen U.S. 441/Newfound Gap Road after the Jan. 16 landside is now complete. The main road through America's most visited National Park is officially open, just in time for spring and all it has to offer!

Early April in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

 FROM RICH MTN. ROAD OVERLOOKING CADES COVE

 HYATT LANE IN CADES COVE

 FROM GATLINBURG BYPASS OVERLOOKING GATLINBURG AND THE PARK

 CADES COVE AS SEEN FROM RICH MTN. ROAD

TRILLIUM BLOOMING ALONG LITTLE RIVER ROAD

VIEW FROM ALONG U.S. 411 JUST NORTH OF THE TOWN OF OLD FORT, TENNESSEE LOOKING SOUTH INTO GEORGIA.  The mountains here are in the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee and the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia.

LOOK ROCK WEBCAM Great Smoky Mtns. Nat'l Park

 8:30 AM Thursday, April 5, 2013

7:30 AM Friday, April 6, 2013

WINTER'S LAST GASP???

 

http://youtu.be/Vt6uDB5A72Y

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WINTER INTO SPRING in the Smokies

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

along Middle Prong of Little River

and in Cades Cove

both in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

MIDDLE PRONG LITTLE RIVER - GSMNP

Just another "winter" day, even though it's March 26th.

HYATT LANE - CADES COVE -GSMNP

2 DAYS OF LIGHT SNOW....2ND DAY (Tuesday, March 26) ALSO HAD SLEET.  BUT TOURISTS CAME OUT ANYWAY AS ROADS WERE CLEAR.  BEAUTIFUL TIME IN THE COVE.

APPROPRIATELY NAMED COLD MOUNTAIN

 8 AM FEBRUARY 21, 2013

webcam

Shining Rock Wilderness

Pisgah National Forest,  North Carolina

 

DAY & NIGHT - SMOKIES

http://youtu.be/vIkEKRhC4Ek

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MIDDLE PRONG LITTLE RIVER, GSMNP, FEB. 4, 2013

The sun comes up on a sunny & warm weekend

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

 Look Rock webcam 7:30 am Feb. 9

Purchase Knob webcam 7:30 am Feb. 9

PARSONS BRANCH ROAD MISSED FRIDAY OPENING

http://www.thedailytimes.com/Local_News/story/Parsons-Branch-Road-misses-Friday-opening-due-to-rains-id-033950

CADES COVE MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Campgrounds to close if Federal budget cut

http://www.thedailytimes.com/Local_News/story/Campgrounds-closed-Two-Blount-campgrounds-affected-by-federal-budget-cuts-id-033621

Newfound Gap slide repairs under way

 

(as appeared in The Daily Times, Maryville, TN. Feb. 28)

By Dick Byrd

Tourism leaders and businesses on both sides of the Tennessee-North Carolina state line are hoping, and some are pushing, for quick completion of a huge landslide on Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Work has already been underway for 6 days to rebuild the slide area located about 7 miles below Newfound Gap on the North Carolina side.

The slide is huge. Park spokesperson Molly Schroer says an underground spring, unknown until the slide, exacerbated the problem caused by the heavy rainfall in January, estimated at 14 to 17 inches in all. The road has been closed since the slide. Roadblocks are in place at Indian Gap about a mile below Newfound Gap and at the Collins Creek Picnic Area...both on the North Carolina side of the park. Tennessee traffic can still travel from Sugarlands to Newfound Gap and on to the Clingmans Dome Road and Indian Gap. Though the Clingmans Dome Road has been closed for winter the park is opening it again weather permitting.
Construction workers at the slide site are filling the yawning hole with rock, some from the slide and more trucked in. In all an estimated 4 thousand truckloads of rock will be used to fill the giant hole. Below the roadway itself, where the side of the mountain spread out through the forest there is a giant mud field. The Park service has already seeded that area with native plant seeds and plans on letting nature take its course rehabilitating the area.
Tourism businesses from Townsend to Gatlinburg, from Cosby to Cherokee have been feeling the dent being made in tourist visits because of the huge landslide. Park visits were down in January 1.4%. Schroer has no idea right now if February will be similar.
Phillips& Jordan, Inc. of Robinsville, NC won the bidding process to repair the road and has a May 15 deadline. The contractor will be paid $3,989,890 if the work is completed by May 15th. If it finishes before then it can earn $18,000 for each day before May 15th. The incentive money would come from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians for each day up to 14. An additional incentive of $18,000 per day up to 14 more would come from the National Park Service. If the work is not completed by May 15th an $18,000 per day penalty would be accessed. Molly Schroer told The Daily Times any penalty money would not go to the tribe, but would go to the park service.

FEB. 22 2013 TIME LAPSE LOOK ROCK WEBCAM

THIS IS THE LOOK ROCK WEBCAM ON THE FOOTHILLS PARKWAY IN BLOUNT COUNTY, TN. OVERLOOKING THE TENNESSEE SIDE OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.  This is from before dawn till after sunset.

http://www.outragegis.com/weather/img/animation/yesterday/LookRock.gif

MOODY MORNING ACROSS THE SMOKIES

                                     Look Rock webcam 8 am Feb. 22

NPS OPENS CLINGMAN'S DOME ROAD EARLY

Release Date: Immediate

Contact: Molly Schroer, Molly_Schroer@nps.gov, 865-436-1203

Date: February 14, 2013

 Clingmans Dome Road to Open

 Great Smoky Mountains National Park has announced that Clingmans Dome Road, a popular high elevation visitor destination, will open to traffic as weather conditions allow as early as February 15. The road will continue to be monitored for hazardous conditions throughout the remainder of the winter season, and will still be subject to closure pending inclement weather.

 Winter weather, especially at high elevations, is often unpredictable, which is why the Park typically closes the road from December 1 through March 31 of each year. Milder temperatures over this season have allowed for better access to the road for visitors wanting to reach the popular park destination of Clingmans Dome, the highest point accessible by vehicle.

 The road will not be plowed, though, if snow or ice develops. It will instead be closed so visitors may utilize the area for winter recreation, such as cross country skiing or snowshoeing.

 For the most current road closure information, please call 865-436-1200 x 631 or follow SmokiesRoadsNPS on Twitter.

THE AMAZING GRACE OF MY MOUNTAINS

from 4 webcams aprox. 9am in The Smokies Feb. 14, 2013

LOOK ROCK MOODS

Look Rock webcam sits along the Foothills Parkway...a part of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The webcam overlooks much of the park, particularly the Tennessee side.  That view has many moods.  Here are some of them.