RVing With a Purpose

Friday, August 7, 2020

Today was a beautiful day in the Smoky Mountains. We were again up for an early morning hike. This time we drove over to the Cosby area of the park, about 45 minutes from Fred. This is a less used area of the park, being further away from Gatlinburg. We decided to hike to Hen Wallow Falls by way of Gabes Mountain Trail and were on the trail by 7:30. If you want to know how it got it’s name click here. Round trip is 4.4 miles and is considered a moderate hike. It is 2.2 miles of up the mountain hiking. It’s a steady upward slope all the way but there are those areas that are much steeper. The trail has lots of roots to challenge the balance. The payoff is a nice 95 foot water fall. The great thing about this hike was that we had the entire trail to ourselves. We saw no one else until we arrived at the falls where there was a single female sitting reading a book cooling her feet in the water. It was awesome. We stayed at the falls for probably 30 minutes taking videos, pictures and just sitting admiring God’s handiwork and no one else arrived to disrupt the tranquil setting. We were probably 20 minutes back down trail before we met other hikers. There were beautiful views throughout the hike with smaller waterfalls and beautiful forest. After returning to the trail head and having a sandwich we walked around the “closed due to Covid” campground just to see what it was like.

When we left the park we turned right on Highway 32 rather than left (the way home) again just to see what was out that way. The next section of 32 was miles of one hairpin turn after another – but gorgeous drive. Finally we saw the bears we had been hoping to see. A sow and her two cubs!!! The cubs were so cute. Mom was digging for grubs and eating leaves. The cubs were eating leaves and playing. So much fun to see wild life!

Click here if you want to see a short video of the mama bear.  After enjoying the bears we headed back home. It was another wonderful day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Today we decided to allow ourselves to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast at home rather than the protein bars we have had the past two days. We also had to make some calls regarding our next travel plans and do some other work. Mid-morning we headed out on a road trip on the Foothills Parkway. Today we drove the southern most portion from Chilhowee to Wears Valley. There is another 5 miles of it on the northern end that has been completed and then a 33 mile incomplete section in the middle. The Park Service has the right of way but the funding is not in place to complete the project. Guess what. The project began in 1944. The drive is beautiful. It reminds us of the northern portion of the Natchez Trace. No commercial traffic is allowed so it is a peaceful and slower paced drive. We stopped and did a little hike up to Look Rock Tower, and enjoyed many scenic overlooks. It was a good day in the least crowded place we have been around here.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

So we are still in the Smokies and this morning we were up early to drive to Cades Cove.  Cades Cove is a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Park.  It is know for its wild life viewing, beautiful scenery, and hiking trails.  Cades Cove has an eleven mile loop road that circles the cove and this year they have made all day each Wednesday vehicle free. It is open to bikes and pedestrians only. It supposedly opens at 8:00 but we were there before 7:00 this morning. The parking lot was already full and we, along with hundreds of others parked on the side of the road. As it turns out everyone starts hiking and riding whenever they arrive. You would probably have to be there before 6:00 to get a spot in the parking lot. One person we talked to when we were taking a break told us they rode 2 miles from where they parked before arriving at the start of the loop.

We have hiked various trails in this area of the park and driven through the cove many times but today was our first trip through the cove on our bikes. It was a great, although challenging at times, ride. You can’t ride or hike in Smokey Mountain National Park without climbing some “hills.” The ride started out in heavy fog but cleared as we rode and by the time we completed the ride and got our traditional Cades Cove ice cream cones. It was a beautiful day, even with the fog.

 

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Since the Great Smokey Mountain National Park is just about a 5-6 hour RV drive from our home in Alabama, we have visited here many times. We always enjoy our visits. The mountains and hiking trails are beautiful regardless of the season. Today we decided to return to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. It gets the “Roaring” in it’s name because of the numerous streams/creeks that come roaring down the mountain in various locations. It is a one-way, one lane, scenic drive that is 6 miles of twists and turns, several trail heads for great hikes, water falls and beauty everywhere you look.

Rainbow Falls was our hiking destination today. It’s about a 5.5 mile, 3-5 hour hike (took us a little over 3 hours). There are lots of rocks and roots in the trail to challenge your balance. A pleasant surprise as we increased in elevation, some of the rhododendrons were still in bloom. If you don’t want to complete the entire hike, there are several smaller falls before arriving at the 85 foot Rainbow Falls. What we have never seen before are the huge crowds of people. People were distanced out on the trail so we didn’t realize how many people were actually in the park. We did use our masks when passing people along the way.

RANT The only bad part of an otherwise great day was the people abusing the park. Smoking hiking up the trail and throwing lit butts on the ground, or going off trail and climbing on water falls, or throwing trash on the ground. We understand from one of the locals we talked to in a little country store that the Park is reporting 3 times the usual number of visitors since reopening this summer. Maybe things will return to normal soon before too much damage is done. Rant over. Anyway it was a wonderful day!