EARLY AUTUMN

Canon EOS REBEL XS, Promaster 19-35 lens @ 19mm, ISO 400, f/14, 1.0 sec., 3 Image Panorama

  I had the tremendous honor of driving to Gatlinburg, TN and being the official photographer of the Lima 3/9 Marine unit Reunion Dinner on Saturday night.
  That same weekend was the Rod Run in Pigeon Forge. This is basically an event where hundreds of classic car owners come to Pigeon Forge and park on the main roadway to display their cars. Well, thousand of people flock to this event so the traffic through there is ridiculous.  This traffic hazard combined with the fact that my wife was working, and my kids were all off at friend's houses made it easy to travel the only other way into Gatlinburg. I drove to Townsend, TN and followed Little River Rd through the Smoky Mountains and came in the back way.
  I got an early start so I could stop along the way and photograph cascades and waterfalls on the river. This was a blast. The photo above was taken around 2:30-3:00 in the afternoon and was a slightly difficult climb down the bank to get a better vantage point. I'm glad I did.  The large rock on the right of the image was typical of the entire bank I climbed down. The rocks were like steps only very steep and some were long steps between.  I had to maneuver my way down when I saw this set of cascades especially this lovely red rock in the foreground. It was just shiny stood out to me so I had to have in the panorama.
  I made to my event on time but when it was over I thought I would drive back through Pigeon Forge because it was dark and the winding roads on Little River Rd would be slow. I was an hour driving through Pigeon Forge alone and it took 2 hrs to drive home approximately 45-50 miles.