There has been some crazy weather in these here hills! Thankfully, we’ve been spared the tornado action that devastated nearby parts of the state, but we did get our share of heavy rain and winds. Friday we ventured to the nearby town of Franklin and enjoyed a wonderful local production of The Sound of Music. It was such a treat! But by the time we were headed back over the mountain, the heavy rain had begun. Although the next day cleared up (before it got crazy windy again) the rivers were high and the water was rushing. We figured it was a good day to check out another waterfall or two!
We hooked up with our buddies Bill and Sandy and headed for Mingo Falls on the other side of Cherokee. WOW!
Bill and Sandy had been there last week, and they were impressed with the increased size of the falls due to the heavy rain. It was quite spectacular!
After a picnic lunch alongside a raging river, we headed into the nearby National Park. Our first stop was Mingus Mill – a turn of the century turbine mill. It wasn’t operating, but it was very interesting and lovely. All the extra water even made the mill more beautiful!
(I was having fun with my Photoshop Elements. Think this is how it might have looked?)
From there we continued on to Clingman’s Dome – the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (6,643 ft.). You can drive pretty close, but the last 1/2 mile is all on foot. And trust me, it’s the longest half mile on the planet!
By the time we were climbing that last half mile, the clouds were moving in and the wind was whipping! Man, was it cold!
We were, in truth, a little disappointed with the clarity of the view (no seven states for us), but all and all, we’re glad we went.
If you’d like to see all the pictures from Saturday (instead of just the thumbnails in the collages), you can check them out HERE.
This is such a beautiful area – with lots to see and do! In my next post I’ll try to catch you up with our work here at Living Waters and how we’ve been spending our work days, but for now I’ll leave you with a collage of shots from the stretch of Deep Creek that runs right behind this camp. It’s been so lovely to go and just sit quietly on the banks of this “creek”.
Really, this is our backyard this month.
How blessed are we?!?!
Follow