A view I shot from the Skyline Drive at sunset. Click to enlarge. 

Hi everyone ! I’m back from my vacation from Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.

First, let me tell you a little about Shenandoah (located in Virginia). The Skyline Drive, which runs for 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is flanked by a rumpled panorama of forests and mountains. To many who travel the drive, the highway itself is a park ! But the cars are passing the real Shenandoah. Nearly 500 miles of trails crisscross Skyline Drive, and the Appalachian Trail roughly parallels it for its entire length.

The long, narrow park flows outward, upward, and downward from the highway that splits it. The drive, following ridge trails walked by Indians and early settlers, transports visitors to a park built on a frontier that lingered into modern times.

I shot this view from the Stony Man Nature Trail

A trail we took was the Stony Man Nature Trail. The 1 1/2 mile trail begins near the parking area, and reaches the cliffs of Stony Man’s summit at 4,011 feet. It is the second highest point in the park. Once at the top, you get a great view of the mountains. Viewed from the north, Stony Man Mountain resembles the face of a bearded man.   

Unlike most national parks, Shenandoah is a place where people lived for a long time. To create the park, Virginia state officials acquired 3,870 privately owned tracts and donated land to the nation. Never before had a large, populated expanse of private land been converted into a national park. And never before had planners made a park of land so worn by human use.

In the decade before the park opened, some 2,000 mountain people moved or were moved from their cabins and resettled outside the proposed park boundaries. A few mountaineers, though, lived out their lives in the park and were buried in the secluded graveyards of Shenandoah’s vanished settlements.

I loved a place we went to called Big Meadows. It is many places in one. It has trails, a campground, and the Byrd Visitor center, where exhibits tell the story of the people who lived in these mountains from prehistoric times to 1936.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park (located in North Carolina and Tennessee) is the nation’s busiest park, drawing some ten million visitors a year, more than twice the number of any other national park.  There is plenty of park, with 270 miles of mountain roads. And you can pull off the road, park the car, and stroll down a hiking trail, or just admire the view.

Built in the early 1820s, the John Oliver cabin is the oldest log home in Cades Cove

We took the Cades Cove Loop Road, which traces its history to 1819, It’s one of the park’s most popular places to visit. It was an old farming community. It is an eleven mile one way loop road. We enjoyed seeing the deer and other wildlife. You can visit some original cabins that were built in the 1820s that belonged to families that lived there at the time.  

I shot this elk as we were leaving the park. He stopped traffic for miles !

He decided to sit down and rest after his evening meal

There is wildlife to photograph in every inch of the two parks. The animals seem to sense that they are protected. They practically stand there to pose just for you to take their picture ! The park ranger explained that this one is tagged so that they can keep track of their location. I love talking to the park rangers because you can learn so much from them. I would love to become one someday. It seems like such a wonderful job.

I shot this deer from my car window. The deer are so beautiful. I love their auburn color against the green of the forest

Another beautiful shot of deer

I shot this gorgeous waterfall on one of the many trails we took  

The Great Smoky Mountains get their name from the water and hydrocarbons exuded by the leaves which produce the filmy “smoke”

I was also able to capture some really lovely sunsets between 7:30 – 8:30 every night !

All original photography by Laurita with my new digital Canon camera !  

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Aug 9, ’08 Welcome back! Been here…very nice. Thanks for these shots!  : )

deletereply stillybee wrote on Aug 9, ’08 WElcome back!! Im glad you enjoyed my neck of the mts there in the great Smokys!! Don and I took our honeymoon there almost 2 yrs ago & I miss it! beeutiful pictures!!

deletereply sistahpoet wrote on Aug 9, ’08 missed you, ms, laurita!  WELCOME BACK my friend!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 9, ’08 Hi everyone ! It’s good to be back, especially after all that driving ! Those parks are so big !!!!! I think I need another vacation !

deletereply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Aug 9, ’08 Welcome home Laurita! So glad you enjoyed some of the beauty of the southern states. These pictures are why I love calling this area home. Your photos are wonderful!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 9, ’08 It’s so good to be back, sweetpotato ! All that driving around is so tiring. I was doing my fifth load of laundry as I put this post together !

deletereply strongwilledwoman wrote on Aug 9, ’08 What a beautiful country we live in, and you captured it to perfection. Welcome home, I see by your comment to sweetpotatoqueen you are like most of us and need a vacation after your vacation.

deletereply starfishred wrote on Aug 9, ’08 OMG I went through there something like 28 yrs. ago but yes it has breathless scenery glad you are back laurita

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 9, ’08 I especially love the national parks out west, but we have some really lovely country going on here in the east, too !

deletereply slohomeles wrote on Aug 9, ’08 It’s been nearly two decades since I lived in VA… I’d almost forgotten how beautiful it is. Thanks for the reminder… and Welcome Back.

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Aug 10, ’08 oh my what beautiful scenery it looks amasing, bet that was a holiday to remember

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 10, ’08 Hi Lorettta, it was very nice,  there’s a lot of driving involved, but in the end, it was worth it.

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Aug 10, ’08 Wow you got some awesome shots Thanks I love love love the mountains I went to school in Frostburg, MD not too far from West VA

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 10, ’08 Hi Narice, thanks for visiting ! Yes, it’s beautiful country out there !

deletereply sanssouciblogs wrote on Aug 10, ’08 Great job! So YOU want to be a RANGER when you grow up! I’m telling ma!!! You’ll get lost under the hat and the bears will eat you. Better you should get a job at Katz’s but you can’t see over the counter!! Terrific photography–the one of the 2 deer looks like a painting. Love the waterfall. I was there in the 70’s, so things may have changed–or maybe not. I just couldn’t deal with those hairpin turns over an dover again! Not an easy ride, but the views are worth it. Hope Little Mister returned in one piece! Welcome home.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 10, ’08 Yeah, we brought the rabbit with us. He was fine.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 11, ’08 I added a couple of new pictures to the photo album of this vacation post.