Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains NP

Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina.

Find the location: Copy the coordinates below. Open Google Earth, paste the coordinates into "Fly To" and click on the magnifying glass.

35° 33' 45.98" N
83° 29' 58.40" W

Equipment: EF-1 70-210 lens. Ektachrome 64 (in all probability).

Digital imaging/manipulation:  Image scanned with Minolta Dimage Scan Multi PRO at 4800 dpi.  Emulsion artifact removed.

Notes: Oh Lordy. This is one of those things you do in your marriage that is never, I mean never, forgotten. OK, I didn't know the road to Clingmans Dome would be closed for winter when we set out on a 7 hour trip to Tennessee to get a photograph from that peak. I didn't know that the 15 mile trek on that closed road in the cold, mostly dark, without being in shape, would be so uncomfortable (particularly the following day). I didn't know those things then, and I'll never be allowed to forget them in the future. I'm reminded every time I say the words "Tennessee," "road closed," or "don't worry, we can do that." The one positive for Esther was that on the way back, I slipped on the ice and fell. No doubt sustaining serious injuries that I will take to my grave.