In which Moominmama learns to measure elevation in the Smoky Mountains by the smell of the trees...

Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Moominmama knew she'd reached 6,000 feet of elevation whenever the woods started to smell like Christmas. That's because these mountains are home to the Fraser fir. The popular and fragrant Christmas tree is mostly grown on tree farms these days, but the Smokies are one of its rare natural habitats -- but only above a certain height. 

Clingmans Dome is the highest peak in the Smokies with a viewing tower at the top, overlooking a large stand of towering Fraser fir and providing 360-degree views of the ridge that divides Tennessee and North Carolina.

To get there involves a long, winding road off Newfound Gap Road and then a short, steep hike up a paved path, because, of course, this is a big tourist spot. But there were other places where reaching the height to smell those trees required some serious leg work. 

One of Moominmama's first Smoky Mountains hikes was to a spot called Charlie's Bunion, but I did the hike just after a fierce cold snap, walking in the first snow of the season.

I didn't know about the Fraser fir, so the intense piney smell near 6,000 feet hit me hard, and I inhaled so deeply, I made myself dizzy as Christmas carols suddenly ran through my head.

As I would later learn, the Fraser fir is struggling out here in the Smokies because of the balsam woolly adelgid. The insect is wreaking havoc on the trees, leading to an estimated 90 percent mortality rate. At Clingmans Dome and a few other locations, they are spraying the trees with insecticidal soap, but it's a tedious tree-by-tree process. The National Park Service instead is hoping that genetically resistant trees will emerge in unsprayed areas, like Charlie's Bunion and Mount Le Conte. But climate change is also affecting the range of these trees, which need the cold of higher elevations.

Here's the eponymous Charlie's Bunion, a rocky viewpoint supposedly resembling the bump on a long-ago hiker's troubled foot.

The final hike of my Great Smoky Mountains stay was up Mount Le Conte, the third highest peak. And after an easy start this was a challenging route along some rocky ledges, but overall, a stunningly beautiful trail. Just when you think your lungs and legs can't take anymore, that wonderful smell of the Fraser fir hits, and the summit again seems possible. 

But the Fraser fir, red spruce and hemlock are not the real reason people come to the Great Smoky Mountains in October. 

They come for the brightly colored deciduous trees at lower elevations that create stained glass tunnels along the roads and beside the creeks.

It makes for some spectacular lower altitude hikes like this one along a creek right by my campground.

Rushing water passes through tunnels of dark green rhododendrons with red and gold light filtering through the tall trees above. It's a religious experience, for sure!

But the Great Smoky Mountains are close to major populations centers on both the North Carolina and Tennessee sides, which means in addition to campers inside the park, there are day trippers who come in and crowd the parking lots. 

To avoid crowds on a Saturday sure to be busy, Moominmama left the park and went to see a museum on the Cherokee reservation on the North Carolina side.

Among other things, I learned that the Cherokee developed a written script for their language -- not an alphabet but a syllabary, which means that each letter represents a syllable or sound.

The Cherokee take great pride in the man who developed this written system for their language, which shares some letters with English but many others that seem unique. The syllabary made it easier for them to communicate in a changing world and to preserve their language. The carving below honors the great man Sequoyah and stands outside the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

The Trail of Tears is what most people remember about the Cherokee -- a time when they and other eastern tribes were forced off their land and marched to Oklahoma, with many dying en route. 

But the white man's determination to get the Cherokee's land first divided the tribe, with some who fought in the courts (and won! Then-President Andrew Jackson subsequently ignored the Supreme Court) and others who wanted to take the money and go (and did against the will of the majority). Many suffered as a result, but it was hardly the fault of the Cherokee that they were left with no good choices.

The eastern band who succeeded in remaining in North Carolina now appears to have strong connections to the members established in Oklahoma. 

The tribe does seem to have some mixed feelings about the museum and has removed many of the artifacts to return them to families and burial grounds. This I completely understand. They also have interactive exhibits that no long interact, lights that no longer work and areas that are shut down. This may be a financial issue since the museum was closed for much of the pandemic, but I felt like I missed out on a lot - like oral histories that no longer played.

But I absolutely can't complain about the food in Cherokee! I stopped for lunch after the museum when I saw this sign. I'm glad I arrived when I did because in short order, the place was packed. The trout was definitely worth waiting for, and there were a lot of happy families surrounding me! 

This trip was my last hurrah of 2022. As I write this, I am safely returned to my friend's home for the winter months, back in New Hampshire. I am reconnecting with friends, enjoying a well-insulated home, central heating and a lot more space.

I am looking forward to snow and some cross country skiing -- and starting to plan my adventures for 2023.

After falling in love with glaciers in the Columbia Icefields of the Canadian Rockies, I have my sights on Alaska. We'll see if plans come together and the Moominhouse can manage such a remote destination.

Check back in 2023 to see how I manage! I leave you with a shot from my campsite near the Tennessee River, not far from Chattanooga, where the Moominhouse is tucked into its own cozy shelter for the next few months as we all await the return of the sun to higher latitudes!