Smokies

“Will anyone be there between June 10th and June 20th? Myself and my insane associates will be. Maybe we'll cross paths. I'll be the crazy backpacker with a small pack full of inadequate gear. ;) I'll post my itenerary if someone else will be there. Also, what did y'all think of the park? I've never been. What kind of difficulty will my underfunded-thanks-to-college expedition be facing. We'll be on the AT for some of the trip, but mostly hitting a circle around the middle section of the park between Siler's Bald and Mt. LeConte. Happy trails!

Flowbee

P.S. I'm a new poster here but I've been following for a while. TT is a very entertaining read, even from such a motley crew (we can smell our own). ;)”

“Nope, I'll be there for a week in August and for a few days in late June.

Have Fun!”

“G00SE and I'll be there for part of the first week in June so I guess we'll miss you also. Have a good hike.”

“Likewise to both of you!”

“I may be out there on or after the 15th, don't know yet where I'm gonna go but depending on which way you are coming in you will likely pass my workplace within a half mile in Sylva,NC. Shoot me an email and maybe I can buy you a decent luch before you hit the woods (or Breakfast)”

“I'll be there this weekend.

http://towndawg.tripod.com/upcoming.htm”

“I'll be there again June 21-23”

“Smoky's in the Summer!
Yall are MAD!
Much more better in the Winter.”

“http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmcam/grsmcam.htm


Anyone else see the fire going right now? Its on RIch Mtn. If someone started a regular fire, it looks like it got out of control.”

“I'm not seeing anything -- ?”

“The dot in the middle of the screen. It'a good sized fire on Rich Mtn. I archived a better photo, I can email it to you if you want.”

“cool --

You can email me at tilt001_atyahoo^dotcom and I'll send you a real addr.”

“Here it is HPM put it up on the webserver”

“oh man, hope they knock it out quick.”

“gosh, that's really scary. That looks like its really burning. Hope it's under control.”

“For sure. I haven't been able to turn up any local news about it on the 'net.”

“Apparently there's a campsite, #5, at about that location. Someone built a doozie.”

“hope nobody got hurt.

We had a brush fire here last week. Fire dept lost a brush truck, the wind turned and brought the fire back on top of the two firemen - they bailed out of the truck (had gotten hung on some thick palmettos) - guy said they made it out with just seconds to spare before the truck went up.”

“Yep, sounds familiar. We've had quite a few small brush fires around here lately.”

“I just checked the Smokies cam again. Looks like its still going or they didn't do a very good job of putting out their campfire. Yikes.”

“wonder how many acres so far - that's right out of Townsend, isn't it? WOnder if the Knoxville news has picked it up yet.”

“no mention at Knoxnews.com”

“Must've just been a big bonfire then.”

“As of 10:20 am, it's still going.”

“odd place for a bonfire”

“Makes me wonder what they were drinking at campsite #5 last night.”

“....or smoking....”

“How do you know that it is near CS#5? Assuming that the fire is near the top of a ridgeline, I don't recognize the mountain range behind it. If the background is part of the same ridge, then the fire is way below the top.

(I'm not doubting you, just trying to place the view. I should learn more next week.)

Cigarette smokers!”

“its not HUGE, but that does look like a lot of smoke coming up.”

“It's in the area of #5 but further down the side.

If you go to the URL Treebait posted there is a link there to see a photo of landmarks in the cameras range of view. It appears that the fire is on the flanks of Rich Mtn.”

“It's still going. Wow.”

“There's a big cloud of smoke there now.”

“It sure looks bigger! Like there's a huge notch cut in the ridgeline.

Still nothing in the news?”

“can't get the NPS webcam to show me an image now.”

“Today its too cloudy to see if its out or still going. Rats.”

“well, at least we hope that's clouds!”

“High humidity helps.”

“I did a search for 'fire' at Knoxnews.com yesterday and the most recent hit was a story about how fire danger in the area was high....”

“Bleah! I tried to view the Lookrock web cam from my parents computer but its badly pixellated.”

“must be raining there now, the view is nil.”

“We saw something glowing east of Frozen Head Friday night. It looked like car headlights or a campfire/bonfire. Since there was a burn ban in effect, it may have been that fire you mentioned.”

“Townsend area was too far away to be the one we saw. It was just a few peaks over to the east of us. Not as far as Oak Ridge even.”

“looks like it's out now.”

“A few years ago a tornado swept across the side of Rich Mtn. above the trail junction for hiking the Rich Mtn. Loop. It knocked down many trees. That wood was probably ready to burn, so I suspect that was the main part of the fire.”