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The Appalachian Mountain Range stretches from Maine to Georgia. These beautiful pristine mountains, with ranges of ridges, valleys and coves with winding streams, waterfalls and rock outcropping, are the oldest mountains in the United States.
The term Smoky Mountains became popular when the Great Smoky Mountain National Park came into being in the late 1930's. Majestic blue mountains with the smoky appearance along the ridges, sometime leave you in doubt where the mountains stop and the sky begins. The words Blue Ridge Mountains and Smoky Mountains are frequently used interchangeably to describe the portion of the Appalachians from West Virginia to North Georgia.
I have been privileged to wander and hike the mountain trails in the Smokies for over fifteen years. Only recently have my physical limitations curtailed my activity, Always with a camera at hand, I would spend up to five weeks a year in the Smoky Mountains.
The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, part of it being in North Carolina and most of it in Eastern Tennessee, is home to an array of wildlife. These animals can live out their life without being the victims of hunters.
Most of the wildlife photos on these pages were made using slide film, that over last few years has been scanned into digital format. I have seen over countless Black Bears and Whitetail Deer in the Smoky Mountains, however attempting to photograph animals in the wild with film was a frustrating experience. The end result is that many photographs, especially of Black Bears were not usable.
I hope you enjoy these photographs and can join me in reliving my experiences, seeing and photographing these magnificent animals.
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