Weather Changes in the Smokies 11/7/12

IF you enjoy changes in weather,  you need to come to TENNESSEE..... George and I traveled over the Smoky Mountains (between Gatlinburg and Cherokee, NC) on Wednesday, 11/7/12,  headed by way of the scenic route to Asheville,  North Carolina.

It was a fabulous day to be in the Smokies ---and we captured LOTS of great pictures along our way.... Sit back and take the trip with us!!!!  Remember to click on the photos for enlargements!!!

The above picture was taken from the bypass overlooking Gatlinburg ---with Mt. LeConte in the distance (covered with FOG)....  There were still some beautiful Fall colors in the lower elevations also...

Here is a great photo of some of the colors still showing off for us on this November day.

Late Fall is one of my favorite times to come to the Smokies.  Many of the trees are bare--but the ones left with leaves are still showing off their beautiful colors... Do you like this photo as much as I do????

Now you surely are not surprised as to what we encountered on our way UP the mountain!!!!!!   Lots and lots of FOG.... Oh how I love fog photos.  Do you???

Another picture showing fog along the creek;   There's just something magical about fog (or mist--or whatever you call it)!!!!

The higher we went,  the colder it got ----AND guess what we encountered next????? SNOW!!!!  (This old woman was a happy girl!!)    OH--how I love seeing snow around the Rhododendrons...

We even had to stop and talk to Mr. Snowman (which someone else had left for us)!!!!

After that came the beauty of snow..... There's just nothing more beautiful than seeing snow clinging to evergreens....  Wish you could have been there.  (Roads were clear!)... The scenery was marvelous!!!!

I love seeing snow clinging to the tree limbs like that.... It was AWESOME.

The higher we went in elevation,  the more snow we saw.   They had gotten this snow the night before, so we got there at a perfect time!   AND--it was 'spitting' snow when we were there.  Beautiful photo,  don't you think?

AND---when we got to the top of the mountain at Newfound Gap,  here is what we saw. That tree is really weighted down with the snow!!!!

FINALLY,  we got over the mountain into North Carolina....  Soon--all of the snow was gone!!!!  AND---the SUN was even trying to come out....  Isn't that an interesting picture---especially when comparing it to the snow pictures above??????

OH MY GOODNESS..... Life in the Smoky Mountains is ALWAYS enjoyable --no matter when we are there.... This particular day,  we were treated to all kinds of weather....  Hope you enjoyed our day!!!!

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday...

Hugs,
Betsy

Colorado--Day 3 (9/16/12)

The next day of our big trip out west in September led us first to Boulder, Colorado --where we visited BOULDER FALLS (pictured above)...   This waterfall looks small in this picture --but it is really  66 feet high.  Isn't it pretty surrounded by all of those 'boulders'?????

Be sure to click on the photos for enlargements.

In that same area,  we noticed more ROCK CLIMBERS...  See them????  Gee---those Colorado people really do enjoy climbing the rocks!!!!!! ha

After leaving Boulder,  we took a back, scenic road (Nederland-Richmond) heading north toward Rocky Mountain National Park.   WOW--what a beautiful drive.  And the ASPENS were glorious along this road...  AND---besides seeing all of the blooming Aspens,  you can also see snow on the Rockies in the background.... Pretty, huh?

Here's a close-up of some of the Aspens --surrounded by evergreens!

This was our view as we traveled that scenic road...  Aren't they fabulous?

I loved seeing all of the beautiful green evergreen trees surrounding the Aspens.

Here is just one more photo (out of the gazillion which I took)--also showing the beautiful dark blue sky that day!

Now we are in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We had hoped to go to Bear Lake on this day--but the road was closed for construction.  SO---like we do frequently,  we had to go to Plan B...  Our drive took us up the mountain ---which looked so different this year when compared to June of 2011 when there was lots of snow around...  I do like the picture above --mainly because of the clouds.

We stopped at most of the overlooks along the way UP that mountain... Here is a good picture of George at one of the overlooks--in front of some Aspens.

Love this gorgeous STELLER'S JAY--which we saw several of while in Colorado. Aren't they beautiful???  They are much prettier than the Blue Jays we have here in TN.

George took this picture of me standing in the exact location where  I stood in June of 2011 when we were here --when there was LOTS and LOTS of show on the ground... It looked very different this year.   Think I liked it better when there was SNOW... ha

On our way back down the mountain,  we stopped for a long time to watch a huge gang (what they call a herd) of elk...  There was ONE male guarding his 'family' --and another male elk across the street --hoping to intrude!!!!!!  We didn't see a 'fight' that day--but we did get some great pictures...   The picture above shows just a few of that 'gang'.

Here is PAPA ELK ---showing his beauty --and keeping an eye on the male across the street....

Hope you enjoyed today's set of pictures...  It's going to take me a year to get through the photos --going day by day.  BUT--it's the best way to keep up with where I am!!!!! ha... The next set from this trip will be from the Old Falls River Road in the Rocky Mtn. National Park.

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,
Betsy