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Tennessee

Day 14 - 2nd June 2012

Tennessee State Flag

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Mount LeConte

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If Clingman Dome was a bit of a cheat, Mt LeConte was the real deal - an 11 mile round hike to the top of the third highest peak in the Smokies (6593 feet).

Miche on the trail...





Spotted Dusky Salamander on a moist part of the actual walking path...




They have great faces...








Miche at Arch Rock...













Me at Alum Cave Bluffs, though they're not actually caves...










The rhododendrons were flowering all the way up the trail...




Miche walking under an overhang made up of a fallen tree root ball...










Despite being nearly 7000 feet tall the mountains had tree cover from top to bottom...




There's a succession of tree-covered ridges going into the distance...








Miche at the top...




It was strange being at the top of a mountain, but with no view due to the trees...




It did make for beautiful panoramas though, when you could find a cliff with a view...




At Cliff Tops for lunch before the descent...












About to go through Arch Rock again on the way down...




To avoid delays getting to the summit, we posed at the park entrance on the way out...




A visit to the Gatlinburg Bennett's for more southern barbeque food before our trip north...




Next stop - day 15 - Travel to DC

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Day 1 - Travel Day 2 - Everglades NP Day 3 - Florida Keys 
Day 4 - Biscayne NP Day 5 - Shark Valley Day 6 - Kayak & Boat
Day 7 - Fossil Hunting Day 8 - Manatees part 1 Day 9 - Manatees part 2
Day 10 - Memphis Day 11 - Memphis to Gatlinburg Day 12 - Dollywood
Day 13 - Cades Cove Day 14 - Mount LeConte Day 15 - Gatlinburg to DC
Day 16 - Washington Day 17 - Smithsonian