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Take our Late Summer Wildflower Quiz
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Ken Burns shares his impressions of the Smokies
 Ken Burns, who along with Dayton Duncan created "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," sat down with USA TODAY recently to share some secrets of this special place. Click on the image above to see what he had to say about the Smokies. His PBS documentary is available via ShopPBS.org.
Our award-winning Smoky Mountain Explorer film series includes two titles to date: "An Island in the Sky" and "Seasons of the Smokies." All purchases of these two films support this national park.
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Smoky Mountain Mystery:
Is Alum Cave bluffing?
Photo by GSMA's Gary Wilson
Situated on the flank of Mt. Le Conte, Alum Cave Bluffs is one of the most popular destinations for hikers in all of the Great Smoky Mountains. Yet, as anyone who has made the steep 2.3 mile climb on Alum Cave Trail can tell you, there is no cave there. A bluff with an overhang yes, but no cave by any stretch of the imagination.
And as most any geologist worth his or her salt can tell you, there is little, if any, alum at Alum Cave Bluffs. Pseudo-alum, sure. Epsom salts aplenty. Bona fide alum? Not so much.
Potassium alum has many uses, from pickling and cooking to taxidermy and the astringent in aftershave, so one can understand why the 19th century miners who discovered the "cave" might have become optimistic. Epsom salts (Magnesium sulfate) are very useful in their own rights, however, including as bath salts and plant food.
And even though the alum was a no-show, saltpeter and sulfur were found at the bluffs, making the site strategic for minerals used in gunpowder.
In fact, the aforementioned overhang creates an unusual habitat in the Smokies, one that is absolutely dry. The odd dust at the base of the bluff, in fact, contains several rare minerals you have never heard of (slavikite, for example) that have no special value but occur in only one or two places on the planet.
So, one could make an argument that the real name should be Slavikite Cliff, but most would agree that Alum Cave has a nicer ring to it.
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Roaring Fork to close
for six-month stretch
Bud Ogle Cabin
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail will close to the public a month earlier than usual this year, beginning on Nov. 1. Eight bridges on the popular natural trail will be replaced during the winter months, with work expected to be completed by April 30, 2015. The road closure also means the Grotto Falls Trailhead will be close during the construction dates. Decisions about the open or closed during the construction dates. Decisions about the open or close status of the trails that intersect Roaring Fork (Trillium Gap Trail, Grapeyard Ridge, and Baskins Creek) will be announced at a later date. Bluegrass Contracting Corporation of Lexington, Ky., has been awarded the work contract.
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Members hike 16 miles
along Hazel Creek
GSMA members were invited to participate in one of our most ambitious adventures to date - a 16-mile, round-trip hike along Hazel Creek to the Hall Cabin at the end of Bone Valley. Though the forecast called for rain on August 19, the day turned out to precipitation-free, cool and perfect for a long, history-rich day.
Thanks to our leader, GSMA Board Member Danny Bernstein, for getting us safely there and back, and to GSMA Cinematographer for documenting the day.
For more information about member activities, click HERE. To become a GSMA member and receive invitations to all these events, click HERE.
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October member events to celebrate fall in the Smokies
Once again in October, GSMA members will have two programs to choose from - one each in North Carolina and Tennessee. First on Saturday, Oct. 4, GSMA's first-ever "Fall Festival in the Cove" will include Monarch Butterfly Tagging, an afternoon hayride, bird watching and fall-flavored refreshments. Former GSMA board member Warren Bielenberg will lead participants on an early morning bird walk, followed by Wanda DeWaard, who will teach the group how to tag butterflies and why it's important to follow these insects year to year as indicators of climate change's influence on the environment.
The Fall Festival Schedule
- 8-9:30 a.m. - Birdwatching with Warren - Limited to 20, $12
- 10-2 p.m. - Butterfly tagging with Wanda (bring lunch and water) - Limited to 16, $12
- 3 p.m. - Hayride with Ranger Lisa Free - Limited 50, $16
- An afternoon hayride followed by apple fritters and cider will cap off the day in the Cove.
Members can sign up for each activity separately or all three for $35, a $5 savings. Due to limited parking in the Cove during October, this event is not available to non-members.
Photography in the Valley
Then on Saturday, Oct. 11, we're thrilled to bring back one of last year's most popular activities, this time in North Carolina: "Photograph the Valley of the Elk" with GSMA Business Member Al Harris.  The richness of the Cataloochee area will fill your view finder, from re-introduced elk to a variety of historic buildings. Fall colors should be nearing peak, too. The half-day session is planned for 9:30 a.m.-noon. Hiking will be minimal. Equipment to bring includes: camera, camera equipment, water, lunch, be prepared for the weather that day. Call for detailed instructions about meeting place. Limited to the first 14 participants to register. Members fee is $25 each; non-member fee is $50, which includes a complimentary GSMA membership. Monthly activities are designed to enhance Great Smoky Mountains Association members' knowledge and appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you have a suggestion for an activity or want to volunteer to teach a group of park lovers more about a particular area of park history, environment or culture, please send us an email.
Registration for both October events is expected to fill up fast, so don't delay. Call us today to reserve your spot. Phone: (865) 436-7318, Ext. 222 or 254 or toll-free (888) 898-9102.
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Official Park Store
Shop here and support GSMNP!
It's back and better than ever!
VISITOR FAVORITE: Enjoy one of the best tastes of harvest-time in the Smokies. Spread some of our rare delicacy, real Sourwood Honey with or without the comb, on a hot biscuit or some homemade bread. As Carson Brewer said, "Most honey is made by bees. But sourwood is made by bees and angels."
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Mingus Mill goes coutour
NEW: The mill was the meeting place, the country store and the best place to hear all the community's goings on (perhaps this is where "rumor mill" comes from?) A half-mile north of Oconaluftee Visitor Center is Mingus Mill. Built in 1886, this historic grist mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Located at its original site, Mingus Mill stands as a tribute to the test of time. Stop by to learn more from GSMA millers. Hours: 9 AM - 5 PM daily mid-March through mid-November. Also, open Thanksgiving weekend. Click HERE to get yours today.
NEW COVER: Day Hikes of the Smokies
 This is it! A fresh new look for the ultimate pocket-sized day hike guide to the Smokies. Written by esteemed Smokies sage Carson Brewer, Day Hikes covers 34 of the best day hikes, from easy to strenuous, in the national park. Plus all the self-guiding nature trails. Includes individual, beautifully-detailed shaded relief maps for each hike, plus highly-accurate elevation profile charts, and 26 photographs. Includes all the best: Chimney Tops, Rich Mtn. loop, Rainbow Falls, Andrews Bald, Old Settlers, Laurel Falls, Albright Grove, Mt. Cammerer, Boogerman Loop, Charlies Bunion, Mt. Le Conte, Grotto Falls, Smokemont loop and more. Click HERE to get your copy today.
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Business Member of the Month
Tudor Inn Gatlinburg
135 West Holly Ridge Road
Gatlinburg TN 37738
tel: 865.325.1173
The Tudor Inn Gatlinburg Bed and Breakfast is a family-run inn located in the heart of Gatlinburg, a six-minute walk from Parkway and Convention Center. From the front door, guests can walk 10 minutes and be on the Gatlinburg Trail. This trail leads to Sugarlands Visitor Center at the main entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In pleasant weather, our guests enjoy their breakfast on our outside patio area. The patio overlooks Parkway below. This is also a favorite place to relax with a book or a beverage.
GSMA members receive a 20% discount on a three-night stay; some restrictions may apply.
New Business Members
Granny's Kitchen
1098 Painttown Road (US 19)
Cherokee NC 28719
tel: 828.497.5010
Great Cabins in the Smokies
3278 Wears Valley Road
Sevierville TN 37862
tel: 866.409.7066
GSMA members receive a 15% discount on a lodging.
GSMA Members Benefit...
GSMA members earn discounts at more than 50 North Carolina and Tennessee businesses. Think about it - 20% off here, $5 off there, and before you know it, your membership dues have paid for themselves. It's our way of saying "Thank You" for your membership! See our complete list of supporting business on our website.
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Join our Fans on Facebook!
We're up to more than 340K FANS on Facebook! We get more "Likes" when you help. Share our posts and invite your FB friends to "Like" us on
 Follow us on Pinterest
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An Early Autumn?
AUGUST 25, 2014: "Witch Hobble, Blueberry and Red Maple leaves are changing to their autumn wardrobe in the mid and high elevations." From Tom Harrington, National Park VIP
It's still August, but already some dogwood, sourwood and yellow buckeye trees are starting to show some autumn hues. Could this be related to the record cold snaps we've had recently (with lows in the 40s on Mt. Le Conte)? Does this mean the peak of fall color will unfold earlier than usual in the Great Smokies?
Stay tuned! We'll be providing GSMA Fall Color Updates on Facebook and our website every few days this year.
Even in a "normal" year, hints of fall would be starting in a few places in August. Witch hobble shrubs are showing some crimson along the Appalachian Trail now, and Virginia Creeper vines are blushing down here in the lowlands.
Is this the very best time of year, or what!
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Life on the Mountain Farm
to be celebrated Sept. 20
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Celebrate the fall harvest as the Mountain Farm Museum comes alive with history on Saturday, Sept. 20. Demonstrators provide visitors with a glimpse into the past as they make soap, apple cider, sorghum molasses, hominy, music and more. Plan to arrive early (at least by 9 a.m.) and stay late. Great Smoky Mountains re-introduced elk have established a herd of about 25 animals, which can be seen most every morning and evening in the fields near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. If they make an appearance on this day, it's sure to be early or just at sunset. It's possible that you'll experience a bull's bugle, as well, as the fall rut (mating season) will be well underway.
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The AT is the place to be
Photo by Lisa Duff
You don't have to hike all 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail to get a taste of early autumn in the high country. Short sections of the 72.4 miles of AT that bisect Great Smoky Mountains National Park make excellent retreats for fall rambles. Here are a few relatively easy possibilities.
- Newfound Gap to Charlies Buinion. 8 miles roundtrip with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Starts from Newfound Gap on Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441). Not an easy hike but a scenic one. Avoid during thunderstorms.
- Newfound Gap to Indian Gap. 3.4 miles roundtrip with 300 feet of elevation gain. Starts from Newfound Gap on Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441). Relatively easy and few fellow hikers.
- Clingmans Dome to Double Spring Gap Shelter. 6.5 miles roundtrip with 1,000 feet of elevation gain on the return. Starts from the parking area at the end of Clingmans Dome Road. A moderate hike with a nice mix of views, open areas, and dense spruce-fir forest.
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Newest Smokies Life to feature
Fontana Dam, Margaret Stevenson
This fall's Smokies Life Magazine begins in the park's relatively low elevations with the fascinating story behind the creation of Fontana Dam. It reaches a high point as it follows a legendary hiker as she summits one of the park's highest peaks some 700 times. Then, it climbs even higher on the wings of buteos and accipiters.
Five stories from four storytellers make up the latest Smokies Life Magazine. Courtney Lix takes on two topics: Margarget Stevenson, which serves as a preview to Lix's upcoming "Women of the Smokies" book due out next year; and Fall Wildflowers, with gorgeous photos supplied by her father, Vernon.
Don Williams, who many will remember from his recent Ridge Runner story, this time tells the tale of Ranger Johnny Morrill and his love affair with the Smokies. And if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Lyn Bales, the senior naturalist at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville, make a point of stopping by soon to say "hi." He'd love to show you around and introduce you to his birds.
Though located in what some call the park's most remote area - its southwestern corner - Fontana Dam stands today as a concrete reminder of our country's commitment to win a war.
GSMA members receive a free, year-long subscription to Smokies Life Magazine. It is also available in all visitor center locations and on our webstore. To become a member today, click HERE. To purchase back issues of the magazine, click HERE.
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Membership Weekend
registration deadline is Sept. 5
Some 100+ GSMA members have already made their reservations for this year's Annual Membership Weekend at Lake Junaluska, and we still have lots of room for more. The deadline to register for this event is Sept. 5.
Our Schedule of Events
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Help us celebrate the official release of our newest collection of mountain music. Friday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m. at Lake Junaluska's Stuart Auditorum. This entertainment event is free and open to the public.
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Friday, Sept. 19
2-4:30 p.m. - Check in at Bethea Welcome Center
FULL - 3:30 p.m. - Take a one-hour boat tour of Lake Junaluska
4 p.m. - GSMA store at Kern Center to include all our new Members Only items
6 p.m. - Dinner by the Lake at Kern Center
7-9 p.m. - "Carroll Best and the White Oak String Band" CD launch party in Stuart Auditorium, free to the public
Saturday, Sept. 20
7:30 a.m. - Breakfast buffet, Lambuth Inn
Morning Sessions, Choose ONE
9:30-11:30 a.m.
+ Birds of Prey with Michael Skinner
+ Make a Cornshuck Doll with Joy Henson
FULL - Learn about Cataloochee Valley's history with NPS Ranger Kent Cave
Afternoon Sessions, Choose ONE
1:30-3:30 p.m.
+ Misunderstood Wildlife with Steve O'Neil
+ Birding around the Lake with Kevin Burke
FULL - Learn about the Elk re-introduction and the last 10 years with Kim DeLozier (Carpool to the valley)
+ Hike around Balsam Mountain with WNC naturalist Don Hendershot
+ 3:30 p.m. - Take a one-hour boat tour of Lake Junaluska
All-Day Session
9 a.m.-3 p.m. - Hike along Cataloochee Divide with a stop at Purchase Knob with Christine Hoyer (Carpool to Purchase Knob Science Center)
Saturday Evening
5 p.m. - Annual Meeting in Lambuth Inn
6 p.m. - Dinner in Lambuth Inn dining room
7 p.m. - Viewing of "Cataloochee," a new documentary film about the valley's history in the Lambuth Inn
8 p.m. - S'mores by the firepit (near the tennis courts)
Sunday, Sept. 21
FULL - Wildflower garden tour with Ila Hatter
9 a.m. - Naturalist Ramble on Flat Creek Trail with Liz Domingue
As an added bonus, GSMA Board of Directors member Danny Bernstein will lead a hike to Hemphill Bald on Sunday morning. Danny is communicating via EMAIL directly with those interested in this hike, so feel free to send her a note.
Registration is easy. Step 1 - Click HERE to visit the Weekend Registration page on our website. Steps 2 through 4 are located on our website.
In combination with this year's Membership Weekend we will launch our new CD, "Carroll Best and the White Oak String Band: Old-Time Bluegrass from the Great Smoky Mountains, 1956 & 1959." French Kirkpatrick, one of the last two remaining members of the WOSB (pictured here on banjo), will be among the many to perform during the celebration. The CD is available now HERE. Read more about how the CD came into existence HERE.
Weekend accommodations are being offered at both the historic Lambuth Inn and in the campground just across U.S. 19 from the entrance to Lake Junaluska. We also recommend you bring your bicycle, fishing pole, lawn chair, walking shoes and kayak/canoe.
As always, you can register for the annual event by calling us at 865.436-7318, Ext. 222, 254 and 325.
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Smoky Mountain Recipe:
Apple Butter Snickerdoodles
Be honest - few things that say "fall" better than apples, right? Except maybe apple butter... You'll be everyone's favorite baker when you whip up a batch of these delicious goodies and serve to a crowd of hungry folks on a crisp afternoon with a steaming cup of apple cider.
Apple Butter Snickerdoodles Ingredients
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar in a mixer until fluffy. Mix in eggs, vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, honey and apple butter. Beat just until mixed. Add in flour mixture and mix until just blended together.
Chill your dough at least 4 hours. This dough MUST be cold before baking. Because of all the butter and apple butter, the cookies will spread quite a bit if you skip the chilling!
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment or baking mat. Place 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scoop balls of cookie dough, about 2 tablespoons, and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place on your cookie sheet.
Bake cookies for 13-14 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from cookie sheets.
Recipe courtesy Dorothy Kern, from "Crazy for Crust"
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GSMA Staff Spotlight: Dennis Houk
 Photo by Dawn Roark
Dennis Houk is GSMA's Product Foreman. He helps run the Association's busy warehouse that sends up to 14 deliveries a week to our eight sales areas in and around the park. The warehouse is also the center for GSMA's mail order and wholesale enterprises.
Q: Where do you hail from, Dennis?
A: I have lived in Sevierville, Tenn., my entire life.
Q: Which high school did you attend?
A: I graduated from Sevier County High in 1971.
Q:What are your favorite pastimes and hobbies?
A: Tennessee football, of course. Also Lady Vols softball, Nascar races and taking our dog Buster to the river.
Q: How long have you worked for GSMA?
A: Just a little over 20 years
Q: The Association has grown a lot in those years, hasn't it?
A: Yes, it has. When I started in 1994, our little warehouse held about 400 different sales items. Now we've expanded our square footage and hold over 1,500 different items today.
Q: What are your favorite places to go and things to do in the park?
A: I like to go to the Cosby area because of the scenery and because it's not as crowded as other places in the park. But don't tell anybody!
Q: If you could change one thing about the park, what would it be?
A: I would not change a thing. I like it exactly the way it is.
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Answers
to Last
Month's
Historic Buildings
Quiz
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The most common configuration for a home in the Smokies was: Rectangular single pen
2. This is the only log house in the Smokies embellished with a decorative shingle pattern underneath the eaves: Davis/Queen House
3. What was the overwhelming choice of wood for home construction? Tuliptree
4. Both sawn log homes and brick chimneys were rarities in the Smokies. This home combined both: Henry Whitehead Cabin
5. This type of barn was far more popular on the Tennessee side of the park. Its construction afforded two major advantages... a large hayloft could be built on top of cribs below without support posts that got in the way of farm equipment, and livestock could be sheltered and fed under the overhang. Cantilever
6. This mill is unique for having a metal turbine: Mingus Mill
7. This is an example of a "shotgun" barn. Long and narrow, at 50' x 60', its huge hayloft speaks of prosperity: Enloe-Floyd Barn
8. This cabin is an example of a "saddlebag" configuration in which two units shared a common chimney, with a fireplace on each side of the chimney heating each unit: Noah Bud Ogle Cabin
9. This is the park's most remote historic structure: Hall Cabin
10. This structure was built in 1850 and used as an artist's studio in the 1920s: Mayna Avent Cabin
The winner is:
J. Arlin Boles, Illinois. Congratulations!
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| Have Questions? | - For questions about online purchases, click HERE and the Mail Order department will help you.
- For questions about membership, click HERE and Judy or Marti will help you.
- For questions about business membership, click HERE and Westy will help you.
- Want to volunteer with GSMA? Click HERE and Lisa will help you. |
EXTRA!
Read all about it! |
The following are all instantly available, digital, GREEN publications...
+ The all-new Summer 2014 Smokies Guide (the official GSMNP newspaper) is available for viewing, reading and printing. Click HERE. + The all-new Spring 2014 Bear Paw, the GSMA membership bi-annual newsletter, is ready to read, share and print by clicking HERE. This edition includes the 2013 Annual Report. + Read back issues. Archive editions of the Cub Report can be found HERE. |
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All purchases support this national park. 
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