Our morning drive to the Clingsmans Dome Visitors Center offered several view points which made clear why the Great Smokey Mountains are so named.  From the visitors center we made the steep hike to the top of Clingsmans Dome sitting at 6,643 feet above sea level.  From there we walked along an elevated spiral path to the futuristic tower which offers an unrestricted 360 degree panoramic view of the magnificent mountain range. What a joy to behold.

After exited the national park we stopped briefly on the adjacent Cherokee Indian Reservation to hike to Mingo Falls which drops some 120 feet.

On the recommendation of my sister Mayela, we stopped for a late lunch in Cashiers, NC.  Afterwards we explored a quaint little country store called the Farmers Market where we picked up some locally grown peaches to sustain as as we travelled on to South Carolina.