Blinded by the Light...kind of...

I'm talking about the synchronous fireflies in GSMNP. You can read all about them here: http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/wildlife/insects/articles/fireflies-flash-unison.html

I've heard about this phenomenon for over a decade, but have never had the opportunity to go. Lucky for me, I had some vacation time to use, so Ted and I went up on a Wednesday afternoon since he didn't have trips on Wednesday or Thursday. We got a camp site at Elkmont.

The rain poured...and poured...and pored some more. We even had to pull over on our way there. But the rain stopped for a few minutes so we could set up camp, and then we cooked dinner, and then went on a short hike to find the fireflies. They were out in all of their majesty because of the rain, but there were still enough out that it was amazing!

A soaked self-portrait:

Ted putting up the tent:
A sleepy Ted:
The lantern Ted has had since he was very young...you can guess how many years that is:
In case you were wondering...
So, don't pollute and clean up after yourselves!

You can't take pictures of the fireflies. If you haven't seen it, you must go next year! You won't regret it!

If you want a campsite on the weekend, book early.

Here are some other links, courtesy of my fellow blog friend Mauri:

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/fireflies.htm

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=88721&catid=2

http://yoursmokies.blogspot.com/2009/05/synchronized-firefly-show-in-great.html

http://www.mysmokymtnvacations.com/content/view/34/40/

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/46082337.html

http://www.terry-1.com/fireflies.htm

http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-tn--synchronousfireflies,0,4136033.story