Great Smoky Mountains National Park Cautions Hikers, Visitors for Sandy's Hard Snow
As Hurricane Sandy made its way farther to the U.S. northeast coast, its gusty winds brought slippery and thicker snow to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Thus, preventive measures must be done prompting Great Smoky Park administrators to issue an advisory to trekkers and travelers headed to the mountains.
During this time of the year, Great Smoky Mountains National Park attracts millions of tourist with its appealing autumn scenery.
"We were going to head out this morning but we saw it was going to snow in the higher elevations. We decided to stay another night and see if we could come up here and play in the snow. This just put the topping on the cake," a tourist named Jeff Ashley from western Tennessee shared in www.wbir.com.
Wbir.com reports that four inches of snow formed at the Newfound Gap Road on the Tennessee and North Carolina state line where its elevations is greater than 5,000 feet. In the afternoon, the road is no longer accessible for the safety of the people due to dropping temperature and strong winds of more than 20 miles per hour.
The national park is now strictly monitoring the road conditions as well as the people who wish to travel through on foot since it is a peak season for hikers to pass through the park through the Appalachian Trail.
Die-hard hikers, who have religiously take the Appalachian Trail are warned to take extra precaution because of the snow's thickness and hard snowing caused by the winds of Hurricane Sandy.
Wbir.com interviewed the father and son hikers Will and Bill Overman. The Overmans shared that they have taken the trail yearly, but this year it was made more difficult with the passing of the Hurricane Sandy.
Dana Soehn, the GSMNP spokesperson, guaranteed the people that precautions are being carried out at the park.
"We have sand and snow plows. We keep the road open as long as it is safe. Conditions can change at the top in a very short amount of time, so people should always check our website or twitter feed to make sure the road is open," Soehn confirmed in the Wbir.com report.
The town roads to the national park are not using salt or environmental reasons, therefore, they could be more slippery.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park gives their latest updates and notifications about road and facility closures on their official website: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm. Also, updates are available on the Smokies Roads Twitter feed: Smokies Road Info@SmokiesRoadsNPS.
