Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Woke up early to head into the Great Smoky Mountains. Detoured onto a gorgeous little scenic drive paralleling the mountains rolling through the foothills. Entered the park, welcomed by a rushing river, swayed with the river to the visitor’s center. Got some great information on the flora and fauna native to the area. Found a campground with the most splendid campsite right at the edge of the river with a little island perfect for our pop chairs and books. Hiked the Little River Trail full of wildflowers and birds. Cooked some peanut sauce and couscous stir fry for dinner. After finishing Mitch went to wash the dishes, the second he left a little drop of rain landed on my book, then another and another, boommm a roll of thunder, I quickly packed up my chair and ran to the van. A bright flash filled the sky as the rain now pouring down pelted the roof of the van, another boom of thunder, the storm was literally directly over us in minutes. Out of the blur of rain I see Mitch, drenched head to toe, dashing through the puddles. I threw open the sliding door and he jumped in, pots and plates in tow, that’s one way to clean the dishes! Our first thunder storm was exciting! The next day we woke up ready to embrace the Smokies! After breakfast we enjoyed our campsite a little longer before packing out and heading up to Clingman’s Dome, the highest point in the park, we got a beautiful 360 view of the mountains with their distinctly smoky blue hue. On our way back down a crowed had gathered at the edge of the trail, someone had spotted a young black bear, we stopped to watch it pop it’s cute little ears out of the brush. Back on the Newfound Gap road another group was gathered. We stopped again to see a mamma bear and her two teeny tiny fuzzy black babies bounding around without much coordination, it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Visited the second visitor’s center with a full farm exhibit of buildings and descriptions of what life was like in the Appalachians before this area was made into a Park. Mitch and I both decided we could easily have lived here, with the wood sided farm house, beautiful barn, sweeping vistas, and gardens galore! Stayed at a different campground in the mountains, enjoyed a cozy fire before crawling into bed.
