Below are a few news items concerning the Smoky Mountains you might be interested in:
* Light snow and ice in the higher elevations of the park yesterday prompted the National Park Service to close Clingmans Dome Road to traffic. Newfound Gap Road between Gatlinburg and Cherokee, N.C. remained open, but the park service warned motorists to exercise caution and to watch for snow and ice on the road. Clingmans Dome Road is scheduled to close for the season on Tuesday.
* Speaking of Clingmans Dome Road, park officials just announced that the old restrooms near the summit will be replaced over the winter. Three sets of toilets that meet standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act will be installed. Park officials said the vault toilets will also meet more stringent water quality standards; the old system, built more than six decades ago by the Civilian Conservation Corps, was overwhelmed by increased usage.
* Visitation in Great Smoky Mountains National Park was down 4.1 percent for the month of October when compared to the prior year. However, for the year-to-date, visitation is still up 4.3%. Officials said much of the decline was attributable to the closing of the Cosby campground for repaving. To me this really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Why would someone not visit the Smokies just because a campground is closed? If all the other campgrounds were full, this might make sense, but there is no mention of this occurring in the report.
* Blue Ridge Parkway management announced that beginning on December 7, a contractor will begin replacing the substandard guardrails on the Parkway, beginning at Milepost 0 at Rockfish Gap, US Route 250 and Interstate 64, and ending at Milepost 356 at Asheville, NC Route 358. All construction work will commence under one-lane traffic controlled by flagmen, and visitors should expect potential delays of up to 15 minutes. To lessen the inconvenience to Parkway visitors, contract work will be limited to weekdays, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., with only occasional work expected on weekends. Mike Molling, chief of maintenance and engineering for the parkway, says the older rails can't stop a car moving at 45 MPH, and that many are too low to the ground to be effective at all. Molling says the new rails are made of steel-backed timber and can hold back cars traveling at the speed limit along the parkway. The project should be completed by June 2011.
Jeff
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