Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 8

 DAY 8 SATURDAY

(Me at Grotto Falls)

Another early day for me.  I’d so much rather get up early and beat the crowds if possible.  I set my alarm for 6:00 am, made a quick thermos of coffee, got dressed and ate my donut in the car while driving to the trailhead for Grotto Falls.   

Starting early paid off and there were only 2 other cars in the parking lot when I pulled in.   I grabbed my backpack and hiking stick and took off.  It was a beautiful clear, cool morning but I quickly worked up a sweat on the uphill trail.  Everything was so green and the sun streaming through the trees was just beautiful.   Grotto Falls is 25 ft high and about 3 miles round trip to hike.  It wasn't a difficult hike at all.

I had the trail to myself the entire way up and 40 minutes later I rounded a bend and saw the falls in the distance!

The really cool thing about Grotto Falls is that you can actually walk behind the falls.  What a thrill!! 

 This was another hike that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.  After several pictures and a few gulps of water I headed back down.   I passed dozens of hikers who were now on their way up but the ones that impressed me the most were bringing up a woman in a wheelchair.  They had constructed a travois of sorts and attached it to her wheelchair.  Her husband, who looked to be maybe 75-80 years old, lead the way with a harness strapped to his waist and shoulders.  Pushing from behind was their daughter and her husband.  They were all smiles and laughs and the elderly woman in the wheelchair was having the time of her life.   I can only assume they made it to the top and I prayed they did because they certainly were putting forth a lot of effort and love.   Way to go!!  The parking lot was completely full when I got back down.  Going early pays off!!   

I took my time heading back towards Gatlinburg by taking Roaring Forks Road, stopping several times along the way to get out and explore old abandoned homesteads and enjoying the stunning scenery.

When I got back to Gatlinburg I decided to head back towards Rainbow Falls so I could stop at the Noah "Bud" Ogle Homestead and do the nature walk there, which also happened to be a geocache called "Bud's Tub."  Bonus!   The hike through the woods there was really pretty and I was glad I took the time to drive back and check it out.

All this and it wasn’t even 11:00 yet.  I headed over to the Sugarland Visitor Center and found a parking space and got out to walk the Nature Trail and the Cascade Falls trail.  I was so glad I did.  It was just such a nice day, but Saturday was proving to be extremely crowded with people everywhere.   

 

Ugh, just too many people for me so I decided to call it quits after hiking the 2 trails, and headed back to the Campgrounds.  I stopped at the Hungry Bear and ordered a brisket sandwich with sides of potato salad and coleslaw.  

I ate about ¾ of it all and took the rest back to the campgrounds with me to have for dinner later.  I spent the next few hours cleaning and organizing my car and tent in anticipation of leaving in the morning.   I was sad that my little trip was already coming to an end.  Vacations always seem to go by so quickly, don’t they?   But I’m really missing my dogs and I know they’ll be happy to see me.  

All in all, it was a wonderful trip!  I had a fantastic time in spite of the rain.  I enjoyed camping in both my tent and the car.  I got to scratch several items off my bucket list - Go to the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, experience the splendor of the Great Smoky Mountains, climb to the top of Clingmans Dome and hike to Grotto Falls.  I also picked up 6 new patches for my jacket, bought 3 books to enjoy and collected tons of brochures and maps.  It was an amazing adventure.  I know I'll be back again some day to explore more of everything the Smoky Mountains have to offer.

 

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Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip Day 5

Chattanooga/Smoky Mountain Trip 

Day 5  WEDNESDAY

(me at Laurel Falls)

I got up to light rain - again!  Ugh.  I fired up my Jetboil and made oatmeal and coffee for breakfast and then headed out.  My sister had suggested that I go do Laurel Falls first because it was an easy, paved trail and a good way to ease into hiking the Smokies.  I wanted to get to the Laurel Falls trailhead before the parking lot filled up so I arrived before 8:00 and there were already 6 cars there ahead of me.   I pulled on a long underwear shirt and my rain jacket and headed out.

Once I was on the trail the canopy of trees protected me from most of the rain.    I’d read that you should plan to spend around 2 hours there and back so I surprised myself my making it to the falls in about 45 minutes.  

   I sat down to take a break and enjoy the view and since I was thirsty I started rummaging thru my backpack for my water bottle.  Hmmm…..  bear spray on my hip – check.  Camera around my neck – check.  Hiking stick and snack bar – check.  Water bottle??  Nowhere to be found.  I was so darn worried about having everything else that I walked off and left the water bottle laying in the back of the car.  What an idiot.   Lesson learned!   The falls were flowing pretty good.  Be careful where you step tho - I saw one woman fall flat on her ass when she walked over a wet spot.

I snapped a bunch of pictures and headed down to my car.   I made the trip back in 40 minutes in spite of the trail being extremely crowded by that time.   I doubt I walked 50 feet the entire way back without running into hikers headed up.   By then the parking lot was completely full with more cars spilling out along the side of the road.  I was so glad I got there early.   

My sister had also told me that she heard that Cades Cove is now closed to car traffic all day on Wednesdays instead of the previous 10:00 am deadline, so I stopped at the visitor station and confirmed that with a ranger.   I was glad my sister mentioned it or I would have made the trip for nothing.   Looks like Cades Cove was being pushed back to another day.  

I decided to head into Gatlinburg and walk around for a few hours.   I paid $ 15.00 for an all day parking spot and took off down the main drag.  There are so many stores and restaurants to check out and there were a lot of people there.   I headed over to The Donut Friar and got myself a delicious raspberry filled powdered donut and a cup of coffee.  

I sat and people watched for awhile before heading over to the Skylift.  I wanted to do the Pedestrian Bridge at the top because there’s a glass section you can walk on.   I thought that sounded kind of cool so I’m happy I did it.  

It was extremely windy at the top but the rain had stopped and I got some good, but cloudy, pictures of the Smokys in the distance.  

This is the ride back down.....

I did a couple geocaches and then stopped at Ole Smoky Moonshine and did a Moonshine tasting.   

That was fun!   I tried several different flavors, including Apple Pie, Blackberry, Watermelon, Grape, and a few others.  I purchased 3 jars of Apple Pie, no not all for myself, 2 were gifts and also bought myself a sweatshirt.  

The rain had started up again and since it was already past 2:00 I decided to drive over to the Hungry Bear for a BBQ Brisket sandwich for a late lunch.  I didn’t realize how hungry I was!  

I decided that I had had enough for one day so I went back to the campground, cleaned up my car, and then sat in my tent for awhile and watched the rain fall.   Enough already with the rain!!!  I debated pulling my bedding out of the car and moving into the tent to sleep, but decided against it.   It was just too comfy in the car and the tent was serving well as a catch all for my cooking equipment and wet towels.

I spent the rest of the evening just reading and catching up on email and facebook before going to bed by 9:30.  I planned on getting up early and heading to Clingmans Dome  in the morning - finally!