Here are four shots (two from this fall and the two below from back in the summer) to help explain how the Smokies got their name. You would think it was from all the trees and condensation that forms their own cloud cover. The "smoke" and "blue mist" comes from plants, which not only give off oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide but also chemicals, which we can smell when we walk through an area heavily dominated with plants. Those chemicals combine with the oxygen to give a blue colored mist that you see in the distance when you look through the forest, especially from above.
Anyway, whatever the science, it makes for great views!!!
Smokies in the summer:
