The sound emanating from the cascading creek next to the campsite is wonderfully peaceful and calming. This mountainside campsite will be my home for the next four days. The site is located in the Smokey Mountains in the far southwestern edge of North Carolina. I am on the side of a mountain called the Balsam Gap, located between Waynesville and Sylvan. An entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway is only 1/2 mile away. The only sounds here are from the gentle breezes through the canopy of trees overhead and the soft rippling of the creek. I think falling asleep here listening to only the sounds of the forest will be very easy and wonderful.