Cherohala Skyway

Wednesday morning we enjoyed one more sunrise with friends at Lake Guntersville,

Then we headed to Carol's house in NC. Here's Carol, almost home.
We had one day of rain delay, then we headed up Route 68 to the Cherohala Skyway.
This man is panning for gold on the Tellico River. No luck, though.
This area was inhabited by Cherokee Indians. It's interesting to read their beliefs and legends about the land.

Another view of the river.

We stopped at the ranger station that was once a CCC camp...one of the first in the nation.

Beautiful setting

THe view made it worth waiting a day for the rain to pass.

There's a nice NF campground with electric hookups on the Indian Reservation.

Side road to the campground.

Tellico Lake with a swimming beach...would be a good place to kayak.

How the mountains were formed...

How the Cherokee say the mountains were formed:

Carol reading the sign....view in the background.

Picnic area

Tellico Lake can be seen from here if you squint.

I learned the name Tennessee came from the Cherokee name Tanasi.

Why the mountains are "smoky"...

Smoky Mountains

A "Bald" is a mountain with no trees on top....there are several in this area.

Another Cherokee Legend

It's a mystery to the rest of us.

Want to hike with us to the top? It's shady and cool along the trail.

The top is grassy with lots of berry bushes.

Where there are berry bushes, there will be bears. This bear scat is full of berry seeds.

A view from up there.

Looking across to Huckleberry Knob. In December of 1899, two loggers from a logging camp near the Tellico River were trying to reach Robinsville, NC by Christmas. They didn't make it.
A hunter found their bodies in September, 1900 on top of Huckleberry Knob with several jugs of whiskey nearby. It is presumed they died of exposure and hypothermia after becoming lost. A cross that marks the grave can be seen to the right in this picture.

Butterfly in the clover.

Back to the cool shade of the trail.

Back on the Skyway.

Down the road is another little trail. Want to go? There's supposed to be a great view at the end.

Harbinger of fall...

This was once a beautiful American Chestnut tree....they were all killed by blight.

This trail is wheelchair accessible.

The view...not exactly what we were supposed to be able to see because trees have grown & blocked views of the road ahead.

What the sign said we'd see:

The curvy steep descent out of the mountains is probably what did in Carol's brakes....uh oh.

You can see a little of the road on the mountain across from this viewpoint.

Zoomed in...

Pretty purple berries....don't know the name of this tree.
Yes, unfortunately, once safely down, Carol could not go any further....her brakes were locked up and smoking. So she pulled into this church parking lot Friday evening, and here we sit waiting for service. Don't now if she'll need to be towed or not...a local mechanic is supposed to come look Saturday morning. I'll see her safely back home before continuing my journey.