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Sometimes,
a single photo just doesn't do the Great Smoky Mountains justice. For
this collection of photos, I've stitched together numerous photos that
were shot in mid-May to create some panoramas that let you see a bit
more of the spring views from the Park.
The photo above shows the view from Hwy. 441, looking to the west towards
Clingmans Dome and Fork Ridge. The light green ridge in the foreground
is Rocky Fork Ridge. Just behind it is the darker and higher Fork Ridge.
A trail drops 2,880 feet down the length of Fork Ridge from the Clingmans
Dome road to the waters of Deep Creek, 4.9 miles below.
Beyond that, standing againat the horizon, is the Noland Divide - it
runs from just below Clingmans Dome down to Deep Creek, 11.5 miles and
4,150 feet below.
The high country at the head of Deep Creek was used as a last refuge
by a freedom loving group of Cherokee in the early 1800s while they
hid from the troops seeking to move them on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.
Many of their direct descendents live today in the Cherokee lands on
the south side of the Smoky Mountains.
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