Day #150 – Road Trip to Cherokee NC

Gatlinburg TN

Today we drove over to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/mfm.htm), part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in North Carolina.  From there, we drove into the town of Cherokee, North Carolina (http://www.cherokee-nc.com/index.php). 

As soon as we crossed the national park boundary, we were visually assaulted by gift shops, whose names included words such as “teepee” and “wigwam” and “chief”.  Kelly remarked that she couldn’t figure out why Native Americans would make such a big fuss about the name of a sports team and then turn around and use even worse names for their gift shops.  We were disappointed to find the play, “Unto these Hills” would not start its season run until June and the outdoor re-enactment village would not open until early May.  The museum was open, but it was too late in the afternoon for us to give it a proper visit.

We opted to gamble.  We drove off to the casino and parked way far away in the free lot.  On the shuttle to the casino, we agreed to lose no more than $40 - $20 each.  I had very bad luck that day.  I lost half my money, just trying to figure out how to play one of the machines.  Kelly had different luck.  First, she won $130, then lost it before I could grab her winnings and stuff them safely in my pocket.  (She wants a new camera and that would have really helped).  Then, she won $78.  That one, I was able to grab.  We continued to lose our money, but started doing so more slowing and having a bit more fun at it.  I finally gave in and gave her the $78 back.  We ended up with a net loss of $20.

I really don’t like to gamble.  I think it’s incredibly boring.  I actually dosed off one night, in West Virginia, while she played a slot machine time and again.  If the games had some strategy to them, I might feel differently.  Also, I don’t get into a zone the way she does.  I can happily take my winnings and walk out –even if it’s a profit gained in the first five minutes.  Win or lose, she likes to play for at least an hour.  Luckily, she doesn’t like other forms of gambling, so I’m not especially worried about this personality quirk of hers.

We emerged from the casino to discover the HOGs were in town – the annual Thunder in the Smokies.  Harleys were roaring – quite literally – up and down the street.  There were packs of them and they made us both nervous.  We both have ridden motorcycles in our pasts and we are supportive of riders, but in large numbers, they made it difficult for us to drive safely.

On the way home, we got lost and ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The sunset was beautiful.  From there, we linked to the Newfound Gap Road and were home in a jiffy.

Day #149 – Big Creek Trail

Gatlinburg TN

Today we hiked the Big Creek Trail, in the North Carolina portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Kelly had found a book of hike-related scavenger hunts, so we used that to keep us busy on the trail.  We had to find trees growing out of rocks, rocks that looked like a school bus, bear-proof trash cans, and so forth.  We also took a book for wildflower identification.  We looked up, and photographed each new flower we saw.  This was Kelly’s project.  She made me look them up while she took photos.  I didn’t know there were so many different flowers in the Smokies that bloomed in April.

We stopped at Midnight Hole for lunch.  This is a very deep pool at the base of some falls.  The Hole is reportedly dark blue in winter and green in summer.  We saw a couple trout, which got us extra points in the scavenger hunt.

Next stop was Mouse Creek Falls.  This waterfall was the last item on the scavenger hunt.  Since this feature wasn’t as far up the trail as we’d hope, we turned on the GPS and kept going.

Because this trail is so wide, horses are allowed on it.  All day, we hopped from one side of the trail to another, trying to keep our boots clean.  Some of the poop did not look like it came from horses.  We guessed there were bears in them thar woods.

Again, photography got the better of our time management planning.  We turned around at 5 P.M. in the hopes of getting out of the deep valley before dusk.  By the time we’d worked our way down the trail, the mosquitoes had come out and we were slapping ourselves silly.  We made it back to the truck before dark.  Our GPS indicated we’d hiked five miles – our longest hike yet.

Neither of us was as sore after this hike as we’d been on previous ones.  It was just as strenuous in terms of elevation, and longer than any of the others.  Maybe our bodies are bouncing into shape more quickly than we’d thought possible.

Day #147 – Shopping in Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg TN

The campground manager shuttled us into beautiful downtown Gatlinburg today.  We walked about two miles – up one side of the street and back down the other. 

We started at the Mountain Mall where I visited Mr. Harry Dodson’s shop.  He still owed me a case for my dulcimer and I was tired of using an old stuff sack to protect it.  It was fun to visit his shop.  He and another instrument builder had several experimental banjos on display.  I was amazed you could get music out of a cigar box.

Our next stop was the tram to Ober Gatlinburg (http://www.obergatlinburg.com).  A ski resort in winter, this business has figured out how to make money on the off season.  The tram ride up the mountain (10 minutes, 17 MPH, 2.1 miles, rise of 1,335 feet in elevation) in the rain showed the Smokies at their best – mountain behind mountain behind mountain, all in shades of blue and gray, with clouds rising until we were in the clouds, and then above them.  Because of the rain, we could not ride a chair lift to a higher peak and then race sleds back down.  I was seriously bummed about this – it was one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Gatlinburg, but we had fun riding the tram back down.

At the other end of the street, we visited the large outfitter in town.  They had a huge fire roaring in their stone fireplace.  Two young men with two empty back packs were drying out.  All their gear was spread out around the hearth.  The Appalachian Trail cuts near here and they looked like they needed a break from their trek.  A man in a climbing kilt (tough nylon fabric, smooth in front with pleats in back, and cargo pockets on the sides) helped Kelly look for a day pack, but she couldn’t find one that fit correctly.  When I inquired about the kilt (I was careful not to call it a skirt), he told me that it cut down on chafing.  He told me he’d added the pleats this year to make it look more masculine.  He wore those pleats well, but it was the pockets that kept it from being a girly skirt.  Men must chafe in different places from women – my thighs would be toast if I tried to hike in a skirt….or kilt.

Near our original starting point, we found a much smaller outfitter.  The owner remarked on my daypack and Kelly explained that it didn’t fit her properly because of her shorter torso.  He recommended the Deuter brand.  She tried one on and knew it was the right one for her (http://www.deuterusa.com/products/productDetail.php?packID=futura24SL&sub=hiking&tert=futura).  I was please she’d found a pack to fit her frame.

We made only one junk stop – a couple pieces of chocolate from a shop that had been recommended.  I somehow managed to pass up all the funnel cakes.  That’s OK – it’s only April.

We caught the campground shuttle back to our little house on wheels and listened to the rain on the roof.

Day #146 – Saying Goodbye

Gatlinburg TN

We tried to convince Debbie and Linda to stay longer, but they had some silly notion about returning home and going back to work.  What’s that about?  Anyway, they left around noon and the campground suddenly got quiet.  We missed them before they even turned onto the highway.

We did work out a pretty cool trade, though.  I am now the proud owner of Linda’s day pack (Gregory – Jade25 in green; http://www.gregorypacks.com/products/womens/technical/37/jade-25) and Debbie has taken ownership of Kelly’s TV.

For the rest of the day, we moped.

Day #145 – Porter Creek Trail

Gatlinburg TN

We met up with Linda and Debbie around noon today.  They had done some extensive hiking yesterday and were worried their muscles would stiffen.  So, they talked us into a short walk – really a stroll – to see some nice water falls on the Porter Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  They even offered to let us carry their day packs.  Unfortunately, I failed to notice the copy of Tom Sawyer on Debbie’s night stand.

The drive to the trail head was exciting.  We drove over single-lane roads with pot holes that threatened to swallow the Prius.  Debbie likes to drive and read map at the same time which allowed me plenty of time to practice my death grip on the dashboard.  Linda and Kelly, in the back seat, were oblivious to most of this; they chatted the whole way about all the pretty trees.

It was a beautiful trail.  It was wide and soft, with a gentle rise.  We passed paths leading to foundations of old homes, an old barn, a hikers’ cabin, and an old family cemetery.  We also passed hundreds of wildflowers.  Debbie and Kelly stopped at each flower to take photographs.  Linda and I walked on. 

OK, I doubled back for the cemetery.  I’m a sucker for an old cemetery.  Linda came back, too, and the four of us wandered around the graves, softly reading the markers to each other.  When you see many people, mostly children, dying at roughly the same time, you can figure there was an epidemic of some sort.  It’s impossible for me to imagine the grief and helplessness their parents must have felt.  So many deaths would have affected the whole community, not just one family.

The trail continued upward, rising a total of 640 feet over the course of our walk to the falls.  At one point, I lost patience with all the photography and just kept walking.  I later found out that Debbie and Linda wanted to turn back (They wanted to get back to camp before dark and were anticipating an evening of cards.), but Kelly wouldn’t let them.  She figured I was on a roll and should be encouraged with my forward, and upward, movement.

The falls were beautiful.  We stopped and took pictures, then headed back down.  While the walk went more quickly because all the flowers and bugs had already been photographed, going downhill is really hard on my knees.  We took a break by walking off the trail to see an old barn, and a cabin built by hikers.

The barn was cantilevered.  Apparently, back in the day, buildings were taxed based on their dimension on the ground.  So, this farmer had built a barn that touched the ground no more than absolutely necessary.

When we finally got back to the car (total journey 3.7 miles), I was so sore I could barely move. 

We made taco salads and burritos for dinner, using soy crumbles Kelly had found at the grocery store.  Afterward, we settled in to cards.  Linda and I again trounced Debbie and Kelly.  Debbie would not give up.  She wanted to play until she won.  Linda suggested we open the wine.  For some reason, we all got tipsy pretty quickly.  By 2 A.M., I was dozing between turns, but we were still winning.  Linda finally called a stop to the torture and we all rolled off to our respective beds.