Last year, a new outdoor adventure got off the ground — literally — when the Nantahala Gorge Canopy Tours began offering rides on their 1/2 mile-long network of ziplines throughout the treetops in the Nantahala Gorge. Part eco-tourism, part adventure tour, zip lines provide an opportunity to soar through a forest with a unique perspective of the land below. Today, it’s one of the most popular outdoor activities in the area, with their three hour rides routinely selling out. Above, a group of riders await await their turn on a sky bridge.

The Summer vacation season got off to a great start this Memorial weekend. Bryson City’s motels and campgrounds were filled, there were great crowds at the Heritage Festival, and Deep Creek had a steady parade of holiday vacationers floating and bouncing along on brightly-colored “tubes” (the old-fashioned black truck-tire inner tubes have all but disappeared).

Since the Park Service does not rent tubes, the Hannah family of Hope Mills, NC rented their tubes at the Deep Creek Tube Center and Campground, where they were camping. The Tube Center is just one of several tubing vendors along West Deep Creek Road near the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and on the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee.

Unlike whitewater kayaking, which appeals to more adventurous individuals, lake kayaking is a more relaxed experience available to everyone. Along Fontana Lake’s north shore, kayaking provides a unique view of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where sightings of bear, river otter, deer or bald eagles are not uncommon. Interested? Visit the Bryson City website for information about kayaking in the Smokies, including outfitters.

Innkeeper Scot Warf (Charleston Inn) took this photo as he glided into the cove below the Goldmine Loop trail near the eastern end of the lake.

Whitewater rafting is great fun. But it’s even more fun with a group of friends. That’s especially true on the Nantahala where a few short stretches of smooth water provide breaks from the rapids and a chance for friendly banter between rafters.

Each year, more than 200,000 paddlers ride the eight mile course that snakes through the scenic Gorge. With its Class II and III rapids, the “Nanty” is a family river, suitable for just about every generation (children must be at least seven years old or at least 60 pounds). Yet it’s challenging enough to have been chosen as the site for the upcoming 2013 World Kayaking Freestyle Championships.

National Geographic Adventure and ABC’s Good Morning America’s “Vacationland” series named the Nantahala River the number one place to spend a wet and wild vacation in the US.

Trips can be scheduled with a number of Nantahala outfitters. A variety of trips are offered and each company seems to add its own personal touch. All outfitters provide approved life jackets and most provide a wet suit and/or paddling jackets during the cooler months.

Photo courtesy of Adventurous Fast Rivers Rafting

It’s no surprise that visitation to the Smokies rises and falls with the temperatures. Most people simply prefer the warmer months with the wealth of outdoor activities available from March thru October. But the hardy individuals that weather the cooler temperatures are treated to an entirely different and equally beautiful Smoky Mountains landscape. The colors are more subtle, even monochromatic. And with the leaves on the ground, they can see much deeper into the woods revealing a striking array of patterns and textures …like the crosshatch pattern of Poplar trees and shadows in this week’s Postcard.

When hiking deep into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the last thing you expect to find is a piece of office equipment. Yet that’s just what Sharon McCarthy discovered last Fall when she and fellow hiker Judy Gross reached the peak at High Rocks, high above the North Shore of Lake Fontana.

In her excellent “Smoky Scout” online hiking journal, Sharon explained, “High Rocks is the site of a long-removed fire tower, but the view is still there. The short trail up seemed endless as we fought our way through more blackberry brambles and overgrowth. We topped out at the rocky bluff upon which the tower once stood. The foundation and the caretaker’s cabin remain, although the cabin is extremely deteriorated and there are currently no plans to rehab it. Since I was here last year, someone has made a statement by placing a chair on top of the rocks, inviting valiant hikers to pause and enjoy.”

Photo by Judy Gross

From late March thru November, the remote and rustic LeConte Lodge is a busy place with the arrival of overnight guests. Most are hikers who have have completed the seven mile, 4000 foot trek on Trillium Gap trail to the top of Mt. LeConte (elevation 6593 ft.). Others will have taken the equally challenging Boulevard or Alum Cave trails. Needless to say, all are hungry and looking forward to the evening meal prepared by the Lodge’s cook Doug McFalls.

But in the off-season, when things are quiet at the lodge, Doug is still there in his role as winter caretaker …and the only person to witness the winter wonderland created by last week’s snowfall. On the morning of December 21 when he took this photo, the temperature was 12 degrees and the snowfall measured 32 inches.

While in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, LeConte Lodge is a privately-owned business. The Lodge is so popular that, when reservations are opened on October 1 each year, many of the bookings are immediately filled. For more information, visit their website.

For more of Doug’s photos, visit his solar-powered “Life on LeConte” blog.

Not all of Deep Creek’s mile-long tubing course is fast-moving water. At the end of the upper “whitewater” section, Deep Creek widens at a deep swimming hole that provides a refreshing pause from tubing.

The Deep Creek Recreation area is just inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, two miles north of Bryson City. There’s camping, picnicking, hiking trails, trout fishing and three beautiful waterfalls. Tubes can be rented from several vendors near the park entrance. Where else can you have a day of great fun for less than five bucks?

April signals the beginning of whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River. From now through October, more than 200,000 paddlers will ride the eight mile course that snakes through the scenic Nantahala Gorge just west of Bryson City. With its Class II and III rapids, the “Nanty” is a family river, suitable for just about every generation (children must be at least seven years old or at least 60 pounds). Yet it’s challenging enough for the US Olympic Kayaking Team, which often trains there.

National Geographic Adventure and ABC’s Good Morning America’s “Vacationland” series named the Nantahala River the number one place to spend a wet and wild vacation in the US. Watch GMA video.

Trips can be scheduled with a number of Nantahala outfitters. A variety of trips are offered and each company seems to add its own personal touch. All outfitters provide approved life jackets and most provide a wet suit and/or paddling jackets during the cooler months. And like the family pictured above, all rafters are required to have safety instruction before they are allowed on the river.

Photo by J.R. vanLienden

From the very top of the Smokies at Clingmans Dome, Sharon McCarthy (aka “Smoky Scout”) surveys the mountains that have become very familiar to her over the past year. She’s in the process of hiking all 900 miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to raise money for the Girl Scouts in North Carolina.

Sharon anticipates that her final hike will be the Old Sugarlands Trail near the Sugarlands Visitor Center on April 11. Including the additional miles she’s walked to access each of the trails, she will have hiked more than 1000 miles altogether. It’s a feat that will reward her with membership in the elite 900 Miler Club, a group that has added just 250 hikers since its founding in 1995.

You can read Sharon’s journal on her blog “Great Smoky Mountains Girl Scout Challenge“. And while there, why not support the Girl Scouts with an online contribution?

Photo by Jim McCarthy

Here’s an adventurous way to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — join Jerry Span and the Fontana Hiking Club for their “75 Hikes on the 75th” series of hikes.

Participants have the option of joining any number of the hikes throughout the year (schedule). And the more ambitious hikers who complete the entire program will enjoy the added benefit of becoming members of the 900 Miler Club, an elite group of folks who’ve hiked all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Some of the backcountry trails are a bit more challenging than others. Above, hikers Graham Averill (front) and Jeremiah LeRoy (back) negotiate a log crossing on the Cold Spring Gap Trail north of Fontana Lake in western Swain County. Photo by Jerry Span.

The Dragon — the curvy stretch of US Highway 129 connecting North Carolina and Tennessee at Deal’s Gap — elicits contrasting responses from visitors to the Smoky Mountains. “Flatlanders”, unaccustomed to serpentine roads, have been known to turn several shades of green after negotiating the road’s 318 continuous curves in just eleven miles. But motorcyclists love it, and consider it one of the best motorcycling and sports car roads in the world.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the nation’s most visited park, but only a few of those visitors attempt to see it all — like Sharon McCarthy, who’s well on her way to hiking all 900 miles of trails in the Park. And she’s doing it as a fundraiser to benefit outdoor programs for Girl Scouts across North Carolina.

Sharon (aka Smoky Scout) chronicles her hikes on her blog “Great Smoky Mountains Girl Scout Challenge“, an online journal illustrated with dozens of photos, like the one above of fellow hiker Judy Gross. While hiking along Lakeshore Trail, near Fontana Dam, the two came across the old car.

In her journal, Sharon writes, “…this part of Lakeshore Trail (all of it, really) is a fascinating walk back through time when there was no Fontana Lake and there were thriving communities here. We did take the time to explore some of the old cars that were abandoned when this was a road.”

Photo by Sharon McCarthy.

The Nantahala is one of the most scenic and popular rivers in the North Carolina Smokies. Best-known for whitewater rafting, the river is also popular for kayaking, trout fishing and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad’s scenic excursion which runs alongside the Nantahala’s eight-mile whitewater rafting venue. Photo by Jennifer Wilson.

Floating down Deep Creek on an inner tube is not just a thrill, it’s a cheap thrill. For less than $5, you can rent a tube for the entire day. Then try your best to stay in the tube as it bounces over Deep Creek’s whitewater rapids.

The Deep Creek Recreation area is just inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, two miles north of Bryson City. There’s camping, picnicking, hiking trails, trout fishing and three beautiful waterfalls. Tubes (with protective seats) can be rented from several vendors near the park entrance.