Smoky Mountains

Rebecca recommended that we stay in Townsend, Tennessee rather than the more touristy Gatlinburg. On our way to Townsend we stopped at a laundromat to do a much needed load. I have never actually used a laundromat if you can believe that. I found a way to avoid using the laundry room in the freshman doors in college too. So I took this picture to remind me of the moment. Seth was the laundromat expert. He used one almost every week on his mission. We started our load and then watched a movie on our laptop.

Townsend was beautiful. We had a porch on the back of our room that allowed us to look up at the Smoky Mountains. Believe it or not there is no entrance free for this National Park. We drove in that night and drove around Cades Cove. Cades Cove is a popular loop that becomes very popular at night when the wildlife is out.





We hiked up to a waterfall. The humidty nearly killed us. We decided that people in the South may be "larger" because even standing outside you sweat and feel like you have been working out. Warning: If I look bad in any pictures from this point forward...I get to blame it on the humidity.







We were two of the last people to hike in and were able to enjoy the waterfalls without any other tourists. It was breathtaking.




Once we got back on the road we found that Cades Cove had become a very popular spot. The traffic was literally bumper to bumper.


So we cut across the park and took a “side” road back to the hotel.






It felt like we were driving in circles on this dirt road. Seth took the picture below to show just how dark it was. It was the perfect set up for a scary movie. I was starting to think we would be stranded all night but we made it back safely.

The next morning we continued our journey in the park.

We spotted a bear in the woods. By the time we turned around and parked it was gone. I swear it was in this patch of trees.


We hiked up to Laurel Falls next. These Falls were much more populated. The trail was paved so there were lots of families out hiking. The picture below is of the upper falls.

This picture is of the lower falls which were less crowded.






We drove up to the summit and hiked up to Clingmans Dome. This trail was also paved. They had a trail that lead off to the Appalachian trail also. We saw several backpackers heading off in that direction. It may be something we consider in the future. The views from Clingmans Dome were beautiful. We got our first views of North Carolina.




We loved the Smoky Mountains!