I captured this image of Mingus Mill in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in October, 2023. Mingus Mill is a large water-powered mill for grinding corn that can be seen in operation one-half mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitors Center on the North Carolina side. Built in 1886, this historic grist mill uses a water-powered turbine instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. The native Cherokee people traditionally called the Great Smoky Mountains Shaconage, which translates to “place of the blue smoke.” Euro-American settlers drew from this name in their own label of “Smoky Mountains,” with “Great” being added at some point or another to reflect the massiveness and grandeur of the range. There’s a whitish-blue mistiness to the scenery, a beautiful kind of haze that slightly blurs the long ridges and rounded peaks. The same natural haze explains the name of the broader Southern Appalachian province to which the Great Smokies belong: the Blue Ridge Mountains.