Vacation ... Part I

Here I am at the top of Rainbow Falls on the Horse Pasture River ... the falls were a 25-minute hike from the car, and we arrived an hour before the park closed. The locals assured us that the park service would actually lock the gate and lock the car inside the park at 6 p.m., so we really had to run through the woods to get a view of the river and the falls.

It was a real Last of the Mohicans moment, running through the woods and running along the river. Incidentally, lots of the movie was filmed right in this area, possibly even some on this river. I felt like I was in the movie. Except I didn't jump off the waterfall.


Here's a view from Newfound Gap in the Smokey Mountains National Park. The fall color was really coming out at higher elevation.


We spent one night in the Chataloochee Valley on the eastern side of the park, in an area where they had repopulated elk back in the 1990s. We got there kind of late, just as the sun was going down, so I wasn't able to get very many great pictures... but I do like this one.


Now you may be asking yourself, "Why didn't Tim approach the wildlife?" Well, here's your answer.


More to come, later...