Cape Smokey Plateau

This photo looks to the west from the Cape Smokey Trail, about seven minutes beyond the fifth look-off; it shows an open spot that has only partially regrown after the disastrous forest fire of the mid-XX^th century. This habitat is ideal for moose, though I saw none this day; signs that they were frequent visitors along the trail were, however, ubiquitous. The poor soil and the severe weather conditions account for the stunted trees, but the browsing the moose do doesn’t help them either.

This photo shows the trail across the Cape Smokey plateau beyond the fifth look-off and about ten minutes before the sixth look-off. (It was taken on the return hike, so the view is to the south.)