Tag: scenic drive

We were close enough to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited of all the U.S National Parks, that it became our next ‘must see’ stop. Leaving Corbin and headed to Knoxville Tennessee on the I-75 South is a journey not to be taken lightly. Its not that far ..but the road is mountainous and pot hole ridden…indeed the pot holes had pot holes……and in two lane steady traffic it coaxed a few interesting words and phrases from the lips of the driver –

I selected a campground that seemed close enough but not hauling the trailer up some of the trickier mountain loops. Hindsight being 20/20…the road across the Appalachians to get to Knoxville was scary and the road from there up to the park was actually not that bad…!!!

My campground selection turned out to be not the greatest either…..our site was at the bottom of a hill…with a rough gravel uphill corner to get us back out. Visions were forming of the back end of the trailer scraping its way back up the hill ( Argh..!!)

But we were in…and there was power to run the very necessary AC as the daytime temps were 34-35 degrees C (93-95F)plus humidity ….not baking the cat alive being the priority.

All the trail reviews tell you to get in early as Great Smoky Mountain National Park is busy and has limited parking. We were up (well the coffee making guy was up) before 5am to leave by 5.30 am to be at the parking area before 7.

The main gate into the park opens at 6.30am and we were there by 10 after…..with a queue of around 20 cars in front of us. The best part of the day in almost any National Park is first thing in the morning and all those people in the queue had also played this game before.

Entering the park you drive along Cades Cove Loop road. It is a single track, one way (paved) road through the forest with some quite lovely views of the mountains living up to their name with that morning hazy, smoky look.

The drive is lovely….but slow. With no opportunity for passing and the line of traffic slowly crawling, taking in the breathtaking landscape…and ALWAYS stopping for every deer, turkey or bear sighted along the way.

Our first pick for a trail to hike was Abrams Falls and we were the first car in to the parking at 6.50 am….boots on, water bottles at the ready, Alltrails tracking…off we went.

Right from the start…at the first bridge there were dire warning signs posted….

We were not planning on entering the water…!!! ( Editor. Well that’s not strictly true)

It was good timing with the cooler air at this early hour on a mostly uphill trek on the outbound leg of this hike.

As a non-fan of heights and little tree trunk bridges I was slightly dismayed at the numerous little balance beams and relieved by presence the handrails.

Each and every one has a sign to point out how many people have been injured slipping on them…!!!!

One of the upsides of the popularity of this park was how nicely finished the trail reinforcements were….it’s the only place I have seen the structures built this way to accommodate the water flowing through.

It was a lovely path to walk with some spectacular fungi and intermitent views of the river to keep us entertained….

Yet another warning of impending doom…and then the flight of stairs down to the falls…..which were treacherously wet and slippery

Our early bird strategy worked, we had the falls to ourselves…….

……with enough time for the blogtographer to clamber about on the rocks for some terrific images before the next hiker arrived. (Editor. I can confirm the water looked very inviting, and would have been even more so as the temperature climbed later in the day)

(if you click on the images…see if you can find where he got himself to…!!!)

The route back……

I counted 70 people passing us, heading to the falls as we headed down…….

….but as you can see the blogtographer ‘missed’ them all…!!!

…definitely worth hoisting out of bed early to miss the crowd.

From the parking area to the exit of the park, the road continues in a long (single lane) winding, scenic loop around Cades Cove. The posted limit is 10mph…..a pace I can only imagine has never even been approached b/c of the number of cars slow rolling along the route in anticipation of sightings of bear, deer, elk or trees…..and that’s not a complaint….it’s a place that totally deserves that slow appreciative pace…..

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