Great Smoky Mountains

Next up on our North Carolina adventure was a visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It is said to be the most visited park, though we are not sure how they can really know.  You can simply drive through without paying admission or anything, so the statistics might be a bit off.  Nevertheless, we were excited to check out the wonders that it had to offer.

One of our first stops was Klingman's Dome, which demonstrates one of the bittersweet aspects of a place like this.  It is all about accessibility.  The trail to the scenic viewpoint is essentially a paved road that leads from a crowded parking lot to a concrete viewing area.  There are quite a few people and it isn't the most organically natural settings - but the view is still very cool.

When you are at the top of the dome you are at the border of North Carolina and Tennessee.  You are also right along the Appalachian Trail, so even as you walk alongside your average tourist you also encounter the folks who are airing their feet and taking a break from doing some real hiking.  And while we are closer to your average tourist, we have hopes of trending more towards the real hikers as the years go by.

We could have stopped at a number of places to take a picture like this.  Overall, we were quite taken by the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains.  All National Parks have a certain je ne sais quoi, and for the Smokies it is the layered mountain view that seems to go on forever.  We definitely want to come back in the fall and check out more of the park when the leaves are changing color.

Our hiking in this park centered around waterfalls.  It seemed as if every place we turned there was another cascading stream of water at along the trail.  We were not staying in the park, but nearby, so the trail heads were not out our front door, but we made a point of getting as much as we could out of the experience.

Cherokee, North Carolina was located between where we stayed and the entrance to the park, so we spent some time there as well.  At Oconaluftee Park Callie and Reese decided to wade out into the Old River.  The water was cold, and as Reese found out, the current was pretty strong.  She slipped on a rock, fell into the water, and had a tough time getting back up.  Once she got over the initial fright however, she was happy as a clam and wet as a fish.

Right by one of the visitor centers is the Mountain Farm Museum, and we spent some time there learning about the farm and even feeding the smelly, smelly pigs and the noisy chickens.  But we also got the very cool experience of seeing numerous elk, who at one point had to be scared off by the ranger because they were getting too close.  If you look closely at this picture you can see one of the elk in the middle of the girls' heart in the distance.

Bryson City is a neat little town close to Cherokee that relies quite a bit on the folks coming to visit the park.  We had a great time in Bryson City, and especially loved our lunch at a place called the Filling Station.  The dinner we had at the Nantahala Brewery was quite tasty as well.  Bryson City is one of the reasons why we think the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains is the place to be.

Another great reason to go to the North Carolina side is the Deep Creek campground area.  We did not camp there, but we found one of the great reasons to check it out.  We first went there to hike, but quickly noticed how much fun people were having tubing on the creek.  We had a number of places we could rent tubes, and so off we went.  We had the tubes and now just needed to hike up to a good launch point.

The girls were excited, especially since with their newly acquired tubing experience they were confident in their ability to tackle the faster moving waters.  Fortunately for us, that excitement also meant that they were willing to carry their tubes as far as necessary.

Against John's better judgement, Sarah insisted on taking his cell phone on the water to capture the special moments.  And if only because of this picture, John is very happy she did so.  This picture represents all that we hope for when we take these family trips.