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Walk from Coot's Lake to Brushy Mountain Tunnel. (two and half miles). Brushy Mountain Tunnel is in Dallas GA. on the Silver Comet Trail.
While at the Stony Fork Overlook (Google Maps refers to this as Blue Ridge Parkway Scenic Point) with a view looking to the southeast across the ridges and peaks of the N NC Blue Ridge Crest. I angled my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward, so that I could bring out more of a sweeping view across this mountain landscape. I felt raising the horizon would bring out more of a sense of grandeur present in the image. I still wanted to keep some of the blue skies and clouds in the upper portion of the image as I felt they were a good color contrast to the earth-tones present in the lower portion of the image.
I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation in DxO PhotoLab 7. I then exported a TIFF image to Nik Color Efex Pro 7 where I added a Polarization, Foliage, and Pro Contrast filter for that last effect on the image captured.
Canon EOS 80D
When I don’t have much time to share due to work, I go back to digital shots to share. Not sure why I spend more time on storytelling with my Polaroids but I do. I happen to have forgotten about this image though… it is moody and evocative and heavy, given that it was taken in the exercise yard of D Block at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. D Block is where they kept the worst of the worst and it was built on top of the old “death house” site. I love the light and the vegetation and the darkness around it all.
A lovely 22°F/9°C morning on my way to take care of things before the coming snow storm.
The moon is two days past full, but still quite big in the sky. This will be the last view of it for at least a couple of days. A family of crows takes flight on their quest for food. The low angle of the sun lights up the snow from Thursday's storm on Fort Lewis and Brushy Mountains. There promises to be much more there after Sunday.
Some manner of heath on the top of Brushy Mountain off Trillium Gap Trail which is reached by Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Now silent....What were the normal daily sounds the inmates expected to hear? Shuffling steps, mutterings? Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary tour - Petros, TN, USA. Here is a link for general history. Animal lover? If you go to this Wiki link also see the tab named "Talk" where the author talks about the inmate's pet deer. The inmates kept several pets like rats and snakes, too.
Vivitar ULTRA Wide & Slim, 35mm Kodak BW400CN film, 52mm red gel filter taped over lens. 17 Feb 2011.
Sunbeams shining on the trail sign at the junction of Brushy Mountain Trail and Trillium Gap Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Follow me on an adventure!, Path through Rhododendron Forest on Brushy Mountain, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee
Vivitar ULTRA Wide & Slim, 35mm Kodak BW400CN film, 52mm red gel filter taped over lens. 17 Feb 2011.
A small cement block structure located away from the rest of the mine buildings, really no bigger than a closet. Possibly for explosive storage there are several of these spread around the mountainside away from the mine entrances.
From 1896-1966 the inmates of the Brushy Mountain State Prison toiled away mining coal in the heart of Frozen Head Mountain. Originally working 12 hr shifts the cells could hold four men instead of two because when two were in a cell the other two were in the mountain. This operation was established after a rebellion by local miners in nearby coal creek (now Lake City) in which the state was supplying free labor to the mining companies which spelled bad news for the free miners trying to make a living. After the uprising the state abolished the "convict-lease" system and purchased land on which to house and work the inmates, Brushy was the first such institution. It had its own tipple, railroad spur, coke ovens, and six mines behind the prison which was built of stone quarried on site by the prisoners to be housed within. These mines were closed in 1966 after a cave-in killed two inmates, only after a long history of deaths and sabotage.
This portal is very well intact and even has crossties for the mine track still inside it. It directly faces the gaurd tower which presumably was to watch this entrance.
(See links) Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, last named Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex, was a large maximum-security prison in the town of Petros in Morgan County, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction. It was established in 1896 and operated until 2009.
Most Tennesseans have heard of Brushy Mountain Prison, the infamous maximum security penitentiary where the Volunteer State’s most hardened criminals were housed.
Hidden in the mountains of east Tennessee, just outside the hamlet of Petros lies the now closed Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, once a key part of the Tennessee penal system. It doesn’t have the fame of Alcatraz or other well known prisons but it was just as important and mysterious. It was constructed by inmates from stone quarried on site and looks like a castle, it must have been something to build their own prison. From above one can see it is shaped like a cross which illustrates the importance of religion to the people of the area. It’s history is long and complicated, it is one of the oldest penitentiaries in the US.
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary - Roadside America
The prison is nearly encircled by rugged wooded terrain in a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau, adjacent to Frozen Head State Park and Natural Area. Escape attempts were infrequent and almost always unsuccessful. Perhaps the best-known escape attempt occurred on June 10, 1977, when James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., escaped with six other inmates by climbing over a fence. Ray was captured less than 58 hours later in rugged mountain terrain 81⁄2 miles from the prison.
Tour Brushy. Brushy Mountain was the last place you wanted to find yourself – right in the middle of Tennessee’s first maximum-security prison holding the state’s most violent murderers, robbers and rapists for over a century. With some sentences of 200 years or more, most of the men who walked through its gates would never be walking out. Come see for yourself just what life was like for lost souls at the End of the Line.
Former inmate now a tour guide at Brushy Mountain
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary | Tennessee Crossroads
Abandoned Prison - Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Petros, TN. 112419.
From 1896-1966 the inmates of the Brushy Mountain State Prison toiled away mining coal in the heart of Frozen Head Mountain. Originally working 12 hr shifts the cells could hold four men instead of two because when two we in a cell the other two were in the mountain. This operation was established after a rebellion by local miners in nearby coal creek (now Lake City) in which the state was supplying free labor to the mining companies which spelled bad news for the free miners trying to make a living. After the uprising the state abolished the "convict-lease" system and purchased land on which to house and work the inmates, Brushy was the first such institution. It had its own tipple, railroad spur, coke ovens, and six mines behind the prison which was built of stone quarried on site by the prisoners to be housed within. These mines were closed in 1966 after a cave-in killed two inmates, only after a long history of deaths and sabotage.
The mine portal is in the upper left out of view, the guard tower is overlooking the portal, the stream is drainage from the mine
From 1896-1966 the inmates of the Brushy Mountain State Prison toiled away mining coal in the heart of Frozen Head Mountain. Originally working 12 hr shifts the cells could hold four men instead of two because when two we in a cell the other two were in the mountain. This operation was established after a rebellion by local miners in nearby coal creek (now Lake City) in which the state was supplying free labor to the mining companies which spelled bad news for the free miners trying to make a living. After the uprising the state abolished the "convict-lease" system and purchased land on which to house and work the inmates, Brushy was the first such institution. It had its own tipple, railroad spur, coke ovens, and six mines behind the prison which was built of stone quarried on site by the prisoners to be housed within. These mines were closed in 1966 after a cave-in killed two inmates, only after a long history of deaths and sabotage.
This portal seems older but is located around the hill from the guard tower and newer looking portal. It has collapsed and to me the timbers look very old so this could be an older mine, any insight is welcome.
Top of Brushy Mountain off Trillium Gap Trail which is reached by Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Wonderful variety of plants.
The low growing shrub with pale flowers is Sand Myrtle. sometimes called Mountain Myrtle.
Looking north to Brushy Mountain and Trillium Gap from Myrtle Point on the east side of the Mt. LeConte summit. Elevation is greater than 6,500 feet, so it is common to be above the clouds. See more at Internet Brothers Hiking Logs and Gallery.
Coming out the front door after sunrise. The view is of Brushy Mountain in the background, and Green Ridge in the middleground. Between them is Carvin's Cove, where this is a reservior. Just this side of Green Ridge is the corridor for I-81 and US-220. A little closer is Peter's Creek Road (VA-117), which the church you see fronts on.
Not much loss when you do a 7x5 crop on a 6x4.5 frame, so there is very little enlargement factor here.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park aerial view of Brushy Mountain with Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge visible in the background in Sevier County, Tennessee
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An odd structure built into the hillside with a midget sized door and the roof is lower on one end than the other, I have no idea what role this building had.
Presumably a foundation from some long gone wooden building at the site, this is behind the guard tower.
At first glance some people think this is an electric chair, but it's actually the barber's chair used in Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary at Petros, Tennessee. I visited the vacant building in 1973 on behalf of a local newspaper. It was a lonely place!
More on this go to mushysmoochings.blogspot.com
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