View from Clingman's Dome

view from Clingman's Dome, originally uploaded by echeasley.

Ok so Murphy's law...I get a new camera and some really great pictures and our phone and DSL go out. Gotta love AT&T.

I just have to share this picture from the peak at Clingman's Dome, the highest peak in the Smokies at over 6,400 feet. Silly me forgot to put sunscreen on and despite freezing my tushy off got quite a nice sun burn. The dead Fraser Firs are the result of a European invader. Although this picture doesn't show many dead trees, it's a eerie getting up there and seeing what an effect the introduction of foreign species can have. In the photo you can see the blue haze that gives the Smokies their name. It's the white haze above the blue that is man made. It's great to get a bird's eye view and get high enough to see the layers but it's disturbing all the same.