The Appalacian Trail, the adventures begin anew.

I'm off to the 2007 version of the great adventure. My intent was to head post haste for Glacier National Park. But, since I had to drive right past The Great Smokey Mountain NP, I decided to spend one day visiting a couple of sections of the Appalacian Trail that I wasn't able to see back in January due to the weather. So, I drove to New Found Gap near the center of the park and hiked from there up to Charlie's Bunion, a well known landmark on the AT. Below are a few views from that trail.

Here I am on Charlie's Bunion, looming over a couple who apparently had just become engaged.

Then, I visited Clingman's dome, the highest point on the AT and the highest peak in the Smokeys.
While I was there I took the opportunity to hike a short distance on this section of the AT. This also was the starting point of the new Mountains to Sea Trail, which runs from the Smokeys to the NC coast.

After the hikes, I headed north and ended up tonight in Lexington, Kentucky in time to catch the Aggies win over Montana State on Wi Fi. Not bad for 36 hours on the road.