Smoky Mountain Nature Watch

I couldn't go to the mountains without taking in the beauty of the mountains and all of the surrounding forms of nature. God created such an absolutely beautiful world for us to enjoy. I am not sure how you could look at such beauty and not be touched by it. We enjoyed seeing the flowers that were blooming, the beautiful vistas, and the various animals we were able to see and capture on film. It was wonderful!!

Here are a few dozen of my favorite pictures of all the beauty God has created.

This was our view from a lookout right below Clingmans Dome. It was absolutely beautiful but also a little depressing with all the dead Fir trees that have been killed by the invasive species the WoollyAdelgid. There looks like there is hope with new firs growing up around the dead ones. I hope that this is true!





We were also lucky enough to find these beautiful butterflies sunning themselves and drinking water on the rocks at the Chimney Tops picnic area. These are Pipevine Swallowtails and they were beautiful to watch.




I also thought that this was a really cool rock and root formation we found in the creek below the Sugarlands Visitor Center. The rocks are literally grown into and around the root.

These are roots that I found in the river in the Chimney Top picnic area while the kids were playing on the rocks and in the water. I thought all the colors on the roots were awesome and really cool.


And the following are some of the beautiful flowers we saw while walking the trails or on the side of the road. I made Matt stop the car several times just so that I could get some of the pictures.

The red flower is Bee Balm.

This a one of the many Salamanders that Gabe and I were able to find. We weren't able to catch it but we had fun looking at it. Boy, are they fast!

We have now planned a trip back up to the Chimney Tops picnic are with Matt's parents and his sister's family in August. Hopefully, we will all have as much fun then as we did this last week.