June 29, 2009, 3:07 pm
These eastern mountains that straddle the juncture of Tennessee and North Carolina come by their name honestly, shrouded as they are with lush forests accented by near constant bluish mist.Like smoke. Long before white explorers called them the Smokies, the Cherokee who made their home in the mountains described them asshaconage, or blue, like smoke.
Which is why it was a bit surprising to enter the park from the south one alleged spring day and find the mountains, at all but the lowest elevations, covered not with blue smoke but white snow. On a day when the park was crowded with families on spring break, more than a few young visitors passed on the park's impressive natural wonders in favor of the late winter equivalent of making hay while the sun shines - in this case, snowballs and snowmen.
That the park was crowded despite the unusual and unseasonable conditions was no surprise. In its 75th year as a national park, with a full slate of activities in and around it to mark the anniversary, it remains the most visited of all national parks, with some 9 million guests each year.
Many come to simply drive the winding 35-mile stretch of highway linking the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on the park's southern boundary, adjacent to the Cherokee Indian Reservation, to the Sugarlands Visitor Center on the northern edge, adjacent to the honky-tonk tourist draws at Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. (Think Wisconsin Dells, but bigger and, impossibly, at times less tasteful.) Others come to camp or to hike the park's scenic paths and trails - including a long section of the Appalachian Trail - or trace the history of early mountain settlers by visiting some of the park's nearly 80 historic buildings. There also is fishing, biking, picnicking and more.
If gratitude is a virtue, then 9 million people should give thanks this anniversary year for the park's very existence.
