June 21-28, 2020
We are now at Great Smoky National Park.
Sunday, June 21st
We arrived later in the afternoon so decided to check out the visitor center as we were told that a herd of elk hang out there in the evening.
My favorite
Monday 22nd
Cades Cove, one of Donald’s favorite places.
Old Homesteads
Old Barns
This was an old beehive in the tree trunk.
Old Churches
Old Mill
C’mon Mr. Muscles!!
Gorgeous Views
Hiking in the woods
Come walk with me…I LOVE trees that make doorways!
Wildlife
Bears!
We went to Clingman’s Dome in the late afternoon. Top of the Smokies, should be a great view. There was thick fog, we couldn’t see past the tower.
The Appalachian Trail crossed the trail to the Dome.
How’s that for a long distance view?
Tuesday 23rd
Spent the day in Cherokee, NC at the museum. We walked around town and stepped into some shops too.
Yes, we’re social distancing.
These bears are scattered all around town.
UGH!
We like arrowheads.
Lunch outside. Battle of the balancing bottles.
Caught another waterfall
Then tried back at Clingman’s Dome hoping it wouldn’t be as foggy as last night. It was, so instead of going up to the top, we stayed at the parking lot and got some nice photos.
Caught a tiny bit of orange in the sunset.
Wednesday, 24th
Today we visited the Oconaluftee Indian Village in Cherokee. It depicts life in a village.
Cherokee Territory
Then headed to the Sinks in the Great Smoky National Park. Saw a bear in the woods.
Brave girl!
Brave boy!
Laurel Falls
On the hike back, a young bear was just off the path. He gave a bluff charge and scared several of us. Kyrah froze, Suzie turned tail and ran.
Sunset this evening was GORGEOUS!!
Thursday 25th
We drove through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park from Cherokee (south end) to Gatlinburg (north end). Stopped in Gatlinburg for lunch.
This was our first dine-in since the COVID stuff hit. It was at a Cici’s pizza and this was his first day open!
We then drove to Midnight Hole. It’s a cool swimming hole/jumping place. You have about a mile hike in the woods before you arrive.
There are some gnarly roots at the water’s edge.
Kyrah found a little worm snake.
JUMP!!
Friday 26th
We drove in the park again today. We stopped at Cataloochee Overlook. This overlook shows the area where the largest single community group of people lived in this mountain valley.
Excerpt from website:
By the early 1800’s, mountain farming communities sprang up throughout the Smoky Mountains. Utilizing trails created by the Cherokees, farmers made their way to areas previously hunted and farmed by the Indians, and built homes there.
Pioneer families founded each one of these mountain farming communities looking for a new beginning on cheap, farmable land. They found it in the Smoky Mountains.
Although Cataloochee Valley is the most remote of the Appalachian farming communities, it became the largest and most prosperous. At its height, it boasted 1,251 residents. They farmed, planted apple trees, and traded with outsiders.
Kyrah did a little curvy road mountain driving…about an hour’s worth (mom says it felt a LOT longer!).
We ended up back at Midnight Hole as it was a favorite spot. Nice dive form Donald!
Triple jump
Suzie even took the plunge!
Saturday 27th
First we headed to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in the Nantahala National Forest.
From Wiki: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is an approximately 3,800-acre tract of publicly owned virgin forest in Graham County, North Carolina, named in memory of poet Joyce Kilmer, best known for his poem “Trees”.
Joyce Kilmer is famous for the following poem:
We had a long muddy hike out to the big trees.
There are some huge trees here.
Then we decided to drive the “Tail of the Dragon”. Tail of the Dragon begins at Deals Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line. It is considered by many as one of the world’s foremost motorcycling and sports car touring roads. There are 318 curves in 11 miles of road.
We drove one way. Stopped for lunch at this diner and then headed back.
Here are Donald’s times:
We finished the day off by seeing Yellow Creek Falls.
We ended the evening with a treat at an ice cream store in Bryson City.
Sunday 28th
Today we visited Sliding Rock.
From Wiki: Sliding Rock is a waterfall in Western North Carolina, located near Brevard, so named because visitors can slide all the way down the waterfall into the plunge pool below. Sliding Rock is a small slide-type waterfall on Looking Glass Creek, in the Pisgah National Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina.
Jed slid for hours! Literally hours. He must’ve gone down over 100 times!
Here’s a fun slow motion video:
At the end of the day, we met some friends. Here the kids are hugging goodbye.
We had a very nice week in the Great Smoky National Park. The kids did their Junior Ranger books and got their badges!