By Adam Goodheart The quiet splendor and patchwork history of the popular national park offer lessons in how humanity can coexist with nature.Surely ... More

By Adam Goodheart The quiet splendor and patchwork history of the popular national park offer lessons in how humanity can coexist with nature.Surely these are, if nothing else, the most perfectly named mountains in the world. "Great Smoky Mountains": The words conjure fog drifting off a breathing canopy of trees, mist rising above a waterfall, the soft warmth of southern air. Perhaps, as well, the tang of barbecue chased down with moonshine whiskey. But whoever may have coined that poetic phrase, his identity, or hers, is lost to history. Some say it harks back to the Cherokee word for blue—sh... Show Less