Fire damage along the Blue Ridge Parkway
The fire fortunately did not jump the Parkway.
Notice the burned out mountainsides from the Parkway. Also, you can see a hotspot simmering on the middle right.
Dogwood trees blooming at the Smokemont Campground
Smokemont Campground
Bradley Fork
Dogwood blossoms
Bluets beside a branch in Bradley Fork
Crossing Bradley Fork to start returning on Smokemont Loop
Heading uphill on the Smokemont Loop Trail
Foggy and rainy walking along Smokemont Loop Trail
Camera fogged up on me, but I'm heading through a rhododendren tunnel. Nothing blooming yet.
The intersection with the maintained trail to the cemetary
A hog trap beside the trail
Bradley cemetary
This little 7 year-old..."Budded on earth to bloom in Heaven"
Avery Bradley's broken headstone
This little girl lived less than a month
And this little guy lived only a year. :o(
Many of the headstones are worn to the point you can't read anything on them.
Camera has a smudge, but this is two small graves at the very corner of the cemetary
Heading back, this is the Oconaluftee River
The worn vehicle path looked like two parallel rivers running in the heavy rain.
The bridge at trail's end.
The confluence of Bradley Fork and the Oconaluftee River - sorry for the smudge :o|
The end of the trail, plus another 0.5 back to the car
A little groundhog surveys things from his home near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center
The fire swept over the mountain right beside our campsite
I had time for a drive up to Clingmans Dome. Socked in at Clingmans, but this is further down the road.
Ravens Fork
