Huge Wind Event Blasts Through the Tennessee Smoky Mountains Leaving a Path of Destruction.

With virtually no warning a huge wind storm blasted through Sevier County, Blount County, Coche County, and the Great Smoky Mountains national park leaving a path of minor destruction in its wake. There are still 30 plus mph winds still blowing through sections of the GSM national park.

Numerous reports of downed trees blocking roadways, downed power and phone lines and property damage from fallen trees such as cars and roofs are keeping emergency personnel and utility workers busy directing traffic, clearing roadways and restoring services.

The national park service had recorded sustained wind speeds of 70 mile per hour with gusts exceeding 90 mph on Cove Mountain in the Gatlinburg - Wears Valley area.

The park is still cleaning roadways up in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and numerous hiking trails will have blow downs making passage difficult if not impossible for those on horseback.

Traffic is still heavily impacted on Little River Road just west of the Sinks where a large blow down will require heavy equipment for safe passage of both lanes.

The left hand lane North Bound Spur Road just before King Branch has a large limb blocking the roadway make drivers swerve and more weakened limbs may fall especially of the winds pick up as well.

The Gatlinburg Bypass between Newfound Gap Road and the Spur also has reports of tree limbs down by the Campbell Lead Bypass.

Several trees are also down on state road 32 in Blount County.

Limbs are also being reported down on the Foothills Parkway West / 129 area which will take longer for crews to get to and clean up.

Wind Storm Damage Updates:

• Limbs along the North Bound Spur near King Branch have been cleaned up.

Protect your plants against tonight’s hard freeze in the Smokies

While it won't be cold enough in the Smoky Mountains to make pipes freeze up tonight, it will be cold enough in the Smokies to damage some plants in your gardens by freezing tender new buds and shoots.

The first thing to do to protect your plant is bring inside any sensitive flowering plants that you can. Too many plants to bring inside or the pots are too large to move them around? You can lay them on their side and cover the plants with a cloth.

If you are covering plants make sure to not cover them with plastic unless it can not touch the plants as plastic touching plants that freezes will cause more damage. You can separate the plastic cover on your plants with cloth. Though it probably won't be brutally cold tonight in the Smokies to have to worry about this, sometimes it is best to cover cloth that is over plants with a layer of plastic to block the wind.

Pine needle mulch and leaf mulch both work great to protect plants against freezing - just be sure to remove it the next day so the plants warm up.

Another good idea is to make sure the soil is very damp before it gets cold as the damp soil tends to stay warm longer than dry soil. You do not want plants to be wet when the freeze begins as that will cause more intense damage.

Winter storm grips the Smoky Mountains

A hard freeze with up to 4 inches of snow - how could this be since it was in the high 70's yesterday with spring wildflowers blooming everywhere the Great Smoky Mountains? It's the Smokies - expect the unexpected when it comes to weather in the Smoky Mountains.

Home gardeners and farmers alike are rushing to protecting young plants, flowering bushes and trees against the deep cold expected tonight and the very hard frost expected tomorrow night.

Snow has been falling for hours in the higher elevations such as Newfound Gap and Clingmans Dome where some the snowfall is actually sticking but the biggest hazards right now are the thick fog and the slick roadways that will possibly freeze into black ice in some areas as the afternoon temps continue to fall.

Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains national park as seen in the picture above taken today is the highest point you can drive to and Clingmans Dome Road would be the first potential road to close as the weather in the Smokies continues to deteriorate.

Gatlinburg and other high elevations in the Smokies may see as much as 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight with colder weather and another inch expected tomorrow night. This weekend we should see more seasonal weather in the Smokies reaching closer to 70 degrees again.

Will Newfound Gap Road, the major road connecting Cherokee North Carolina with Gatlinburg Tennessee close due to snow and ice? It's very possible and Your Smokies will keep you informed of the road conditions in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and we have the best Smoky Mountains weather conditions page too.

Smoky Mountains camping club forming in Asheville

Camping in the Smoky Mountains can't be beaten and The Good Sam Club is looking to form a new chapter in Asheville area in Western North Carolina to start camping as a group in April with places and times yet to be determined.

Join the Good Sam Club and you can be part of the great fun they will have camping in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina!

Brutal record breaking cold weather at Mount LeConte recorded in the GSMNP

We knew the weather has been unusually cold here in the Smoky mountains and driving has been treacherous, but a report from the winter caretaker at Great Smoky Mountains National Park's Mount LeConte Lodge reported a low last night of -22 degrees - the coldest recorded temperature since 1886.

Lower elevations that the 6,593' high Mount Le Conte were also recording brutally cold weather. The NPS weather station at Cove Mountain in the Pigeon Forge - Wears Valley area of Sevier County recorded 45 MPH wind gusts last night creating a wind chill of 60 below - cold enough to cause frost bite in 4 minutes to exposed flesh.

The coldest recorded temperature in the park was Jan 21, 1985 at an incredible -32 degrees! Unfortunately there are no wind speeds that were recorded with this temperature so there is no data as to the wind chill factor.

22-year-old female Hiker missing in Pisgah National Forest in the Smoky Mountains.

A 22 year old woman who was hiking in Pisgah National Forest in the North Carolina area of the Great Smoky Mountains was reported missing when she did not return from her hike at 6:00 pm last night.

A command post for the search and rescue operations was set up on Turkey Pen Gap Trail off Asheville Highway while the main hiking trails and woods close by were being thoroughly searched by members of the N Transylvania County Fire Department and the Mills River Fire and Rescue until 3 am this morning when the search for the missing hiker was called off. Early this morning the search for the hiker recommenced.

The lost female hiker is presumed to be hiking alone and thankfully last night was not as cold as it has been for previous weeks although she could easily have succumbed to hypothermia if she was not properly equipped.

When hiking in the Smoky Mountains during the winter it is crucial that you are equipped and trained on how to survive the night when temperature can easily go below freezing.

It's easy for even a hiker who knows an area well to be slowed down or detoured by an animal encounter, injury, unexpected trail blockage, or dangerous stream crossing where you may have to spend the night.

Hikers need to understand that even in the summer, night time temperatures in the higher elevations of the Smoky Mountains can pose a serious risk to unprepared or inexperienced hikers and campers.

Smoky Mountains roads still treacherous with ice and snow

Though some major roads have been cleared of ice and snow in the Smokies, most back roads are too dangerous to drive on even with 4 wheel drive SUVs as seen in the picture below.

As melting roads refreeze conditions are expected to worsen in roads around the Smoky Mountains.

Smokies see significant snow throughout region with more on the way today.

More than 7 inches of snow fell yesterday in some areas of the Smoky Mountains wile other areas woke to less than 2 inches. Regardless of how much snow accumulation there is, drivers must be extremely cautious on secondary roads many of which have a layer of crusty ice underneath the fresh fallen snow.

Virtually all roads in the Great Smoky Mountains national park are closed due to snow and ice by the national park service.

Schools and some businesses will be closed and meetings canceled for at least today and some into tomorrow as more snow is expected to fall in trace amounts today and cold temperatures will hinder any significant melting.

Brutal cold still grips the Smoky Mountains – Hikers beware!

No it's not as cold as it gets in Alaska but the Smokies are really feeling the arctic blast the blew in here 2 days ago and tonight even low elevations in the Smoky mountains are expecting temperatures of 0 degrees. The next few days will see continuing brutal temperatures and more snow in the Smokies.

For hikers, this weather can present a real challenge. It's not just stream crossings that can be frozen, but even gravel roads, rocks and hiking trails and even tree roots can be slick with ice and these extreme low temperatures.

These extended low temperatures can spell disaster for anyone spending and extended time outside who is not dressed appropriately in layers or who overheats and then get chilled from cooling action of wet clothes which then lowers their body temperature.

When the weather gets more extreme, many hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains national park become deserted making a swift rescue by some kind passerby virtually impossible.

Hikers should always keep extra clothing in their pack during very cold weather in case they need more layers or if they just need to keep fresh dry clothes next to their body to properly maintain body temperatures.

Water can also be an issue as my water bottles froze today and eating snow can dangerously lower your body temperature although when you are exerting yourself heavily it may help cool you down and keep you from overheating.

In extreme weather such as this, an emergency foil blanket as well as an emergency foil "bag" is a must. Both are very cheap and weigh virtually nothing. While you may not plan on spending the night or a very long time in back country when hiking, if an injury occurs that slows you down or keep you from being able to move at all the last thing you want to add to your list of problems is hypothermia.

If you are not and experienced hiker or well equipment, stay on more traveled shorter trails and stay away from the higher elevations which exacerbate the problems of extreme temperatures and chance for injury.

Drivers, hikers and bikers need to be cautious today in the Smokies

Colorful fall leaves that were washed down on the Smoky Mountains roadways and hiking trails by the much needed rain we just got is creating hazardous conditions for hikers, bikers and drivers who are not cautious.

While were expecting and needed far more rain than what came, we are thankful what we did get even if it knocked down all the fall leaves that are past peak a little early.

With the increased moisture the small creek and streams though still low have been slightly replenished. If you are planning on coming into the Great Smoky Mountains national park, today should be a waterfall day where you can appreciate the slight gain in water flow over any of the many waterfalls and cascades the national park.

Please make sure that if you are hiking you pay special attention to any wet leaves on rocks and on wet trail floors which could be like skating on ice when you least expect it!

Peak Fall Color Season is here in the Smokies

The colors in the Smoky Mountains is amazing and is right now at peak for this autumn in both Tennessee and North Carolina and all I have been doing the past week has been chasing the best colors and hiking all around the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

The weather here in the Smoky Mountains has been amazing - even the day of light snow we received in the upper elevations was cold enough for some light accumulation but certainly not uncomfortable and the next day it warmed right up, slowly enough to let the snow linger and fast enough to hike dressed lightly.

I have spent only 3 days in the North Carolina side and the other time herein Tennessee where the fall colors are a bit behind.

So far nothing I have examined other than some spots along Newfound Gap Road on the North Carolina side, the tops of Le Conte and the highest points of the Appalachian Trail are in the final days of fall colors. Due to heavy evergreen growth on the tops of Le Conte and the AT they are wonderful year round - maybe even prettier with some light snow.

Most of the snow is now gone except in the shaded areas in higher elevations in the highest parts of the park. On Friday 2 of the walls along Clingmans Dome Road were shrouded in ice for the sunrise and even though the sun was just spreading its warm glow against the rock walls chunks were already breaking off and crashing to the ground below.

In regard to wildlife sightings in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, it has been anything other than average for me. Plenty of bear in Roaring Fork but outside of Roaring Fork I only saw 3 in a week. I normally see that many a day this time of year.

Speaking of bear I am amazed that in the Sinks parking area which clearly has active bear warnings posted in 2 places that the garbage was overflowing so that the lids in all three containers would not shut.

I found a large stick and mashed down what I could to get the bear proof lids closed. When I returned from hiking the Meigs Creek Trail it was overflowing again. I tracked down a park employee and had them radio it in.

Shame on the irresponsible persons who did this rather than packing out their garbage as they endangered other visitors as well as the bear. The park service has to watch these trash receptacles more carefully while there are such bear problems in the park - even with the lack of funds they have as this is the 4th garbage incident I have seen and reported in the past week.

Beside the most unbelievable hiking and driving in the Smoky Mountains, I had 2 other outstanding experiences, hiking with Smokies Scout and taking the guided hay ride in Cades Cove on the Sunset run.

Hiking with the Smokies Scout was wonderful and for the fist time in my Smoky Mountains hiking career I actually did a shuttle hike. We rode up Newfound Gap Road during sunrise and stopped to take pictures on an overlook on the North Carolina side and the ice along the side of the road in Clingmans Dome Road.

Our hike took us from Clingmans Dome Road where we were bundled up, hat gloves and the like with snow on the ground and ended up eventually in the Lakeshore area - where I was down to a T shirt.

Our hike which was mostly downhill also took us up and back down the Springhouse Branch Trail. They day and the fall colors were amazing. We went from full blown out peak to dark green and light green areas just waiting to change. Sometime hiking up we went back in season - go figure.

The Cades Cove hay ride I took was far better than I would have ever expected and will go into more detail in another post. The hay ride was on the last day it ran this year, and it was the last time the present concessioner who had run this service for the last 40 plus years took visitor around the Cove as a new concessioner takes over in the spring.

Well I am off to chase more color and I think it will be my routine for the next 2 weeks!

Smoky Mountains Cruise the Smokies Fall Rod Run

It's time again for hundreds of classic cars to rumble through the Smoky Mountains and end up at the Cherokee North Carolina fairgrounds for the annual Cruise the Smokies Fall Cherokee Rod Run.

From this Friday to Sunday afternoon you can check out classic cars and heavily customized modern cars at the fairground where you can enjoy fun, food and entertainment for only $5 a day per person.

There are still spaces if you wish to enter you car in the Cruise the Smokies Fall Cherokee Rod Run for $40 which will give you the opportunity to possible win some of the $15,000 in prizes to be awarded!

For those of you looking to see the Cruise the Smokies Fall Cherokee Rod Run show with your kids on Friday, you can bring them over to the Oconaluftee farm museum from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm to check out the free Halloween program at the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Snow! First flakes of the season fall on Gatlinburg

Though the air temperature was in the upper 40s, snow ever so gentle was falling this afternoon on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and later on just above the city of Gatlinburg today melting as soon as it hit the ground.

It is predicted that the higher elevations such as on Newfound Gap Road and Clingmans dome road may see some snow tonight that may even stick for a gentle dusting.

Drivers should use cation in the early morning as we may even see patches of ice in the lower elevations.

This year we have not even hit peak leaf season in the lower elevations and we are already seeing the possibility of snow in the Smoky Mountains in October.

Break out he cameras this could be beautiful!

Your Smokies is looking for hiking groups with severely visually impaired hikers in the Smoky Mountains.

At Your Smokies we have been working for years to raise awareness by better understanding the needs of persons with disabilities in the Smoky Mountains.

We have educating business owners and the management of public places to special needs and applicable laws in order to make the Smokies a more enjoyable and safe environment for those traveling to or living in the Smoky Mountains.

We have posted information for persons with specials needs on Your Smokes which have been built using a web architecture that does not block access as other sites do to those who are visually impaired and plan to build additional web sites dedicated to improving access to everyone who lives in or visits the Smokies.

If you are a member of a group that has severely visually impaired hikers or are visually impaired and are an experienced hiker please be so kind as to comment to this post. If you wish for your comment to remain anonymous and to not be posted publicly please say so in your comment and we will respect your wish.

Please help us make the Great Smoky Mountains accessible to everyone who wishes to come to this wonderful place.

Plenty of Columbus Day weekend visitors to the Smokies just in time for the start of peak fall season

While regular visitation the Smoky Mountains has been down, the 2008 leaf season and the Columbus Day weekend has offered a real boost of visitors to Smokies.

It was quite apparent that visitation was way up this weekend with far more crowded roads such as the Parkway in Pigeon Forge, the Spur leading to Gatlinburg, Patton Ave and Tunnel Road in Asheville, the Biltmore, Cades Cove and of course the Tail of the Dragon in Deal Gap.

Hiking Trails in the Great Smoky Mountains national park were also very busy. Even quieter trails such as the midway points of the Old Settlers Trail such as Noisy Falls and the Creek along 321 had 2 or 3 cars throughout the day - very rare for this quiet trail.

Parking for Alum Cave was insane and I can not even imagine what it is like to have hiked up that trail to Le Conte with all those people. The at was also crowded as well even some quieter trails in Deep Creek.

Cades Cove at times was like a parking lot but the weather was so spectacular and the fall foliage is starting to come into beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red contrasting against the dark and light green leaves it was worth the slow drive.

The Blue Ridge Parkway from mile marker 380 to the end at 469 was busy with photographers at most pull offs taking advantage of the stunning fall color coming in with perfect blue skies, then amazing cloud formations which the receded leaving perfect blue skies again.

Local businesses are happy to see the crowds here in the Smoky Mountains, most of which will be leaving today. The best time to come right now is midweek where you can still get lodging discounts and it becomes real quiet in spite of the perfect weather and beautiful fall scenery throughout the Smokies.

2008 Visitation down in Smokies - but for how long?

Higher gas prices and food prices along with other necessities, climbing unemployment, credit problems and now the fiasco in the stock market is making an already soft tourist season even softer here in the Smokies.

Luckily for businesses in the Smoky Mountains, the costs here are lower here than most other vacation destinations and since there is so much to do, tourists don't have to drive far to find something that fits everyone's taste and budget.

With air travel prices sky rocketing, economy class tickets are expected to increase even further with the heavy loss of the more profitable business class travelers (Lehman Brothers alone booked $115 million in air travel last year). Air travel for a family to a vacation destination here in the US may no longer be affordable for many more Americans.

Luckily for the Smokies, most of the population in the US is just a day's drive away so people looking to travel on a tighter budget can still do so by driving to the Smoky Mountains.

One of the most popular Smokies destinations is the Great Smoky Mountains national park which does not charge any entrance fees, exhibit fees, guided tour fees or for parking anywhere inside the 800 square mile large biosphere.

More families are finding out how exciting the national park is where they can picnic, hike, bike or take a guided tour for free. For those who have limited mobility or don't want to get that close to nature, there are hundreds of miles or spectacular roads in and around the park where you can see the beautiful scenery without every leaving your car.

While there are still cheap hotel rooms to be found in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Cherokee and the Asheville area, for families it is often far cheaper to spend your vacation in a cabin - it is certainly far more comfortable!

Not only can you prepare and serve your family home cooked meals in your cabin - it's a great way to save gas and avoid paying the high restaurant prices. Most rentals cabins now have amenities such as hot tubs, pool tables, DVD players and some even have media rooms, video game consoles and other ways to keep the clan entertained - for free!

Much of November and some of December is still considered "in season" and is not priced at peak rates so there are still bargains to be found.

Plenty of the outlet malls and stores here in the Smoky Mountains have been slashing prices to attract the tourists who come here to save some money on their Christmas and holiday shopping.

Just strolling down the street to people watch here in the Smokies or listen to live music is loads of fun. Shorty millions of lights will be sparkling and twinkling away through the night in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville for Winterfest 2008.

Close to Christmas there will also be carolers walking down the streets of Gatlinburg in period costumes from the 1800's entertaining all those that they pass with impromptu performances in local stores. The price? Free and tipping is not allowed!

The Smokies have seen a drop in visitation; but the drop that we have seen is far smaller than most popular tourist destinations in the US. We also see that many who live in and near the Smokies are coming back to explore the Great Smoky Mountains.

Are you changing your vacation and holiday travel plans? How do you save money while you are on vacation? We want to know!

So how long will this drop in visitation in the Smokies last? Crystal balls are for sale in some of the gift shops along the parkway and I bet they are on sale.

Gas prices lower and availability improves in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville Tennessee.

Looks like we have seen the last of empty gas pumps and high gas prices in the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville Tennessee Smoky Mountains because the lines at gas stations are gone and the prices are now below the national average - all just in time for the 2008 peak leaf season which is just about to begin!

Now that gas prices are lower again and availability is good everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.

Hurricane Ike didn't hit the Smoky Mountains, but gas shortages and gas gouging did. The gas problems in the Smoky Mountains first turned up in North Carolina and then spread to Tennessee, but while North Carolina is still having problems with inflated gas prices, gas shortages and long lines, everything is just about back to normal in the Tennessee Smokies.

We suggest that people who have to drive into or through the North Carolina Smokies fill up before they get there as they can save quite a bit of time and as much as 50 cents or more a gallon.

Officials and energy experts say that everything will be back to normal in Tennessee by the peak leaf season which starts in less than 2 weeks and by the end of October in N Carolina.

Gas Shortages in the Smokies start to ease - slowly

Gradually is getting easier to find gas and the lines at the gas stations around the Smokies are getting smaller as the gas shortage in the Smoky Mountains appears to be waning.

The gas shortage in western North Carolina and Tennessee caused by the after effects of Hurricane Ike was a real wake up call for drivers around the nation.

Even though the Smoky Mountains was far away from any direct effects of the storm, the ripple effect of the gas shortage caused supplies to dry up and prices to break all previous records.

Gas gouging was a definite problem here in the Smoky Mountains and unfortunately some of the tourists being gouged will not come back to the Smokies in the future and I don't blame them.

Obviously the outrageous gas prices and devastating shortages are just a preview of what will eventually be far more commonplace throughout the country in years to come and they may not even be triggered by a hurricane or natural disaster.

With tourism a key driver of the Smokies economy which is already on the decline because of high gas prices and a shaky economy, it is sad that a few unscrupulous business persons can cause such potential damage to the local economy in the Smoky Mountains.

Gas prices dropping in the Smoky Mountains and gas supplies are rising

Hurricane Ike caused a huge spike in gas prices in the Smokies and shortages throughout the North Carolina and Tennessee Smoky Mountains along with claims of gouging especially by Pilot gas stations.

Today saw huge drops in prices and almost all stations we surveyed had plenty of gas in all grades. Most gas stations were above $4.50 in the morning by the end of the day were back to teetering at the $4 per gallon mark or just below - a far cry from $5.50 and more just a few days ago.

Since the hurricane did less damage than expected but there was some damage to drilling and pumping stations, prices are expected to go down but may take weeks to return to August pricing even though the price of a barrel crude oil has dropped to prices not seen since April.

Let's hope the price of gas in the Smokies gets back to under $3 per gallon again real quickly to help give a boost the much need tourism - especially during peak leaf season.

If you are looking for the best prices for gas in the Smokies us our cheap gas finder. It usually is right on the money for the cheapest gas prices in town.

Gas prices still increasing and gas running out all over the Smokies.

Because of Hurricane Ike not only are gas prices still climbing throughout the TN and NC Smoky Mountains, According to AAA the prices might to go down for at least the balance of the month.

If hurricane Ike creates significant damage to refineries and gas pipelines expect things to get worse for quite a while. Fortunately Hurricane Ike is making landfall as a category 2 with maximum sustained winds at 105 miles per hour.