White’s quest for the elusive twinflower growing far south of its normal range symbolizes an aspect of the Smokies. The park has been designated an International Biosphere Reserve. As one writer put it: All the world of ecology comes to the Great Smokies ... Scientists and students come to observe the richness and density of life forms; the misplaced species; the dramatic impacts of catastrophic landslides and fire scars; and the unknowns, those tantalizing areas of knowledge still withholding their secrets despite careful scrutiny. What really happened here during the glacial periods? Where were the trees then? How much forest burning did Cherokees use for game and vegetation management purposes before Europeans came? Speculations aside, what is the true story behind grassy balds? What are the seasonal migration patterns of the juncos that stay in the park year-round? These remain questions stirring the expert and amateur alike to earnest inquiry. [Illustration: _Abundant cascades and inviting waterfalls greet you in the Smokies. Their sprays often water luxuriant mosses and make ideal habitat for the Smokies’ surprising number of salamanders and aquatic insects._] [Illustration: _Don’t let the glorious mountain vistas distract you from the beauty at your feet. The park boasts more than 2,000 species of mushrooms. They are conspicuous because abundant moisture may encourage them to fruit several times a year._] Perhaps you may come to make one of these questions your own. Nature, it turns out, is an unfolding process. It is a continuous coping, albeit gradual, with change, so that our knowledge always remains limited and there is ever much more to learn. If you have questions, do feel free to ask them. Ask them of a ranger, a naturalist, or the people behind the counters at the visitor centers. But the more closely you observe the nature of things here in the Smokies, the more likely your questions will be to draw a blank. Don’t be disappointed by this. Be encouraged: your question without an answer, should you pursue it, might hold the key to understanding some facet of the natural world tomorrow. But you will have to look at the Smokies, really look with honest and inquiring eyes, to stump the likes of Glenn Cardwell and Peter White or any number of other people you might meet here in the park. All questions aside, however, one thing is certain: millions have come here in pursuit of recreation and gone away fully satisfied, to return again and again. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a great place to _do_ things, things we describe in Part Three of this handbook, your “Guide and Adviser.” May _you_ return again and again. 2 The Nature of Things In the Highlands [Illustration: _Common wood sorrel blooms in forest shade in spring and summer, depending an elevation. One flowering shrub, the witch hazel, blooms in fall and early winter._]