It seems like half of the country is in the grips of a heat wave, and the other half has cool and rainy weather.  Here in the mountains, it has been quite nice after record breaking heat over the weekend.

People flock to the mountains in the summer thinking it is very cool here, and it is cooler than other places in the South.  The coolest of all mountain places are the streams and rivers.  I spent many summer days in my childhood and youth, cooling off in the swimming holes of the Pigeon River.  Back in those days - before people felt that air conditioning was a necessity - people would commonly load the neighborhood kids in a truck, back it right up to the river bank, and use the tailgate as a makeshift diving board.

Even on the hottest days, the water was freezing!  In the photos above, which were taken from a 1940s tourist advertisment book called Gateways to the Smokies, the bathers on the dock were probably just glad to be there, and not actually in the water.  The streams in the high Smokies are even colder than the valley river I was most familiar with.

Side note:  I don't think swimming au naturale  had the same meaning in 1940 as it does today, or perhaps the brochure writers had a flair for the double entendre! 

The photo below comes from a 1945 brochure advertising the Mountain View Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  This was back when people went to Gatlinburg to enjoy the mountains.  Now they visit Gatlingburg to... well, for what I really can't say.  To me it seems like the town is a huge money-sucking distraction to what should be the main attraction, the Smoky Mountains.

But back in the 40s, Gatlingburg was a place to stay, a home base, for exploring the mountains.  The hotel even planned day trips for their guests, complete with a box lunch.  They did horsebacking riding and fishing excursions.  The hotel was rustic, but it offered a level of service that is extremely rare today.

In 1983, my family (husband, 2 children and me) passed through Gatlinburg on our way from Chicago to Orlando Florida. We thought it was the tackiest place we had ever seen. We continued into the Great Smokies and camped for 2 or 3 nights. We had a wonderful time. It was so cool and peaceful. I don't think we swam in any of the streams, but I have pictures of my children wading.

Gail, you are so right, and unfortunately it is even worse now because there is so much more of it. The Smokies, on the other hand, remain as beautiful as ever!