October 30, 2015 - Camping in the Smokies - Day 2

The forecast called for sunny blue skies today so we tried to get an early start before the sun got too high in the sky.  Today's destination was Lynn Camp Prong in the Tremont area.  Fall color was still very nice along Little River Rd and we kept an eye out for photo ops before we got to the Townsend Wye.  We both spotted this scene with the mountains peeking in and out of the fog in the background above the Little River.

along Little River Rd

Another couple pulled up just after we did for the same shot and told us the colors at Tremont were spectacular yesterday which was encouraging.  That's not exactly what we found when we turned on to the road heading up beside Middle Prong, but it was still nice for the end of October.  Again though, we were having a hard time finding a nice scene to shoot without a lot of clutter.  The rising sun helped a little bit back lighting some of the mist rising from the stream.
 

Middle Prong of the Little River

Quite a few other people had the same idea as we did for this day and the parking area for the Lynn Camp Prong hike already had a lot of vehicles.  There was still quite a bit of color in the canopy as we hiked the short distance up to Lynn Camp Prong Cascades.  The waterfall was still in the shade, but the sun was already creeping into the scene just above the falls.  We took a few shots from the trail, then headed down the steep goat path towards river level and the better view.

Lynn Camp Prong Cascades

Lynn Camp Prong Cascades

reflections below the cascades

The trail (which is just an old gravel road) gains a bit of elevation beyond this spot which put us more in the sunshine.  There are several smaller waterfalls along the next short stretch of Lynn Camp Prong and we spent quite a bit of time shooting here and enjoying the scenery.  There wasn't much fall foliage to speak of, but being here obviously beats being at the job I worked at before retiring.

By now the crowds had picked up and it was lunch time, so we headed back to the camp site to grab a shower and eat our big meal of the day before heading back out for the afternoon hike.  Finding a hike where there wouldn't be many people this time of day is almost a joke.  I spotted a small section of trail on the map that's listed as a Quiet Walkway along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River right along US441 about a mile up from the Sugarlands Visitor Center.  Getting there took a while as traffic was backed up trying to get on to 441 before Sugarlands.  When we finally got to the parking area for the hike, there was only one other vehicle and those folks had just ended their hike.  The hike was nice, but fairly non-eventful. There were hardly and leaves left on the trees along the stream and I didn't take very many shots at all.  We did spot some kind of retaining wall on the opposite side of the stream indicating that there was something going on here at one time, then later spotted a long section of stone wall on our side and what looked like the remnants of an old road.  It was just nice to be away from the crowds.

along West Prong