Clingmans Dome, Tennessee 6,644 feet

Climbed 8/31/2015

Clingmans Dome is the most visited state highpoint, presumably because it's the one you can take the family to during a break from visiting Dollywood.

Evelyn and I spent the night in Dolly Parton's hometown, Sevierville. Along with its neighbors Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Sevierville nowadays is a long strip of family-friendly theme hotels, dinner shows, fancifully designed malls, miniature golf courses, and wedding chapels. (Gatlinburg is second only to Las Vegas in the number of weddings performed each year.) The transition to Great Smoky Mountain National Park is abrupt: one minute you're on a busy block of ice cream parlors and T-shirt stories, the next you're surrounded by trees that come right up to the shoulder of the road.

Respite from the tourist traps

After a brief stop at the visitor center, we drove toward Newfound Gap, the pass that sits below the summit ridge and represents the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina. We took in the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east, crossed the Appalachian Trail, then turned up the spur road toward the summit.

Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains

Like so many state highpoints, Clingmans Dome is right near the state line. We parked the car in North Carolina and walked up a steep paved trail back into Tennessee. The views that had followed us up the road were gone; the top was shrouded in cloud.

After about a half mile, the "flying saucer" lookout tower appeared through the mist. We wound our way up the spiral ramp, hoping against hope that the clouds might part for us at the top. No luck. We spiraled back down, and Mike spent a few minutes around the base of the tower looking for an official USGS summit marker. No luck again. (The tower itself serves as the marker.)

The flying saucer marks the summit

We had planned to hike over to the adjacent Andrews Bald, but decided that the cloud cover would make it less than worthwhile. Instead, we returned to our car – and to North Carolina – and headed down to the town of Cherokee for a lovely lunch at the casino there. After lunch, we caught the south end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and followed it to Asheville.