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Tennessee/North Carolina Border

Here's a placard that talks about how diverse the park is. Supporting 100 types of trees, 58 kinds of fish, 1,500 flowering plants, and more than 200 species of birds, fewer places in North America support such a wide variety of life.

This placard talks about the folks who made their home in the mountains. Most sought the region's low-lying valleys and coves, as opposed to the heighten areas like the one I find myself at now. Tillable soil was key, and up here there isn't a whole lot of it.

Did you know that some folks view the Smokies as a living laboratory?

Indigenous to the area, the Cherokee Indians call this place Shaconage. Literally meaning "land of blue smoke", a natural bluish haze sometimes manifests after rainstorms. The haze turns thickest on calm, humid days. The geography of the Smokies works to its disadvantage, however. Pollution also contributes to the haze; the area's heightened, folding terrain slows the air currents and effectively trap the bad air. The sequestered pollution decreasing visibility and adversely affects the region's plant life.

Well, that was somewhat sobering news. How much of what I see now before me is air pollution versus natural haze? It's early November, it's a cool, calm, and sunny day. Let's just pretend that today it's all natural. Shamefully, I have to admit, I've just turned a blind eye to the problem. Such an attitude is causing me to ignore a serious problem and the fact that I've actively contributed to it by just driving up here. Perhaps my writing about the challenges the Smokies face and sharing them with you is my way of balancing the scales and hopefully making "full restitution" for adding to the park's pollution problem.