Above is another picture showing where Cades Cove is. You can't see it because it is surrounded by mountains. BUT--it is down in the 'cove' between that ridge and the mountains behind. It is only 8 miles from where we were!
George took this picture of me on the tower... Below on the right is the Foothills Parkway. The water to the left is Lake Santeetlah near Robbinsville, NC.
This picture was taken with my 300mm long lens... I am facing west. That is steam from the Watts Bar TVA Plant in the distance... The Watts Bar Dam is nearby --and that is Highway 68 --near Spring City, TN. That is quite a distance from where we were on that tower. Amazing... The water to the left in that picture is part of Fort Loudon Lake I think.
The row of mountains in the distance are Walden's Ridge --which are very close to where we live on the Cumberland Plateau. I don't know how many miles it is from the tower to the Cumberland Plateau, but when we drive it, it takes us about two and a half hours. (Like I said yesterday, this was an extremely clear day!)
This is Rich Mountain (in the middle)--which George and I traveled across in September.. Check out that post by clicking HERE for Part I and HERE for Part II. I took this picture with my 300mm long lens from the Observation Tower. Rich Mountain was 10 miles from where we were, and it is 3,686 feet high.
This is Clingman's Dome --also taken from the Observation Tower with my long lens; Clingman's Dome is the peak in the distance and is 6,643 feet high, and is 26 miles from where we were... Amazing, isn't it?
Finally, this is Mt. LeConte in the distance--taken from the tower, with my long lens. Mt. LeConte is 6,593 feet high and is 29 miles from where we were. Our friends, Judy and Charlie, climb up to Mt. LeConte every year and stay in the lodge on top of that mountain...
Visiting this tower was truly fabulous since we could see so many of the places where we have been. IF you are ever near Townsend, TN---please visit the Foothills Parkway and hike to the Observation Tower. It's awesome!!!!
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We got the rest of the Pansies planted (72 total) yesterday... We have them in 5 different beds/areas in our front yard... Hope they make it through the winter.. Usually (unless we have a really harsh winter) they will last here until about July (when it gets really hot). They are so pretty... I am a Pansy lover for sure!!!!!
Hugs,
