As I mentioned a couple of days ago, we did not get to hike any of the AT while over in the Smokies. However, it was cool enough early in the morning that we were able to drive to the Clingmans Dome parking lot and leave the dogs in the car while we walked up the (very steep) 1/2 mile paved road to Clingmans Dome Observation Tower. This spot, highest in TN, provides quite a view when the air is clear and we had pretty good viewing.
The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome and we had hoped to hike some of it from there. While we are not ambitious enough to hike much of it (yet!), it would be fun to do some day hikes along it. However, this is the closest we got this trip.
Maybe we will get the opportunity to go back in the Autumn, we have some plans potentially in the works . . .