After about 3 miles of gravel, the road comes to an intersection. Straight ahead is 15 more miles of gravel road to the Big Creek area, left turns back to pavement and on to Cataloochee Valley. It was tempting to keep straight, but the forecast was for sunny blue skies and breezy, so I turned left and continued with my original plan. At least in Cataloochee I had the chance of seeing some elk and there were some historic buildings I hadn't previously shot. Not too far up from the intersection is a pull off on the right with this view of a part of the Great Smoky Mountains.