Monday, October 1
It rained steadily through the night, but our new tent held
up fairly well, with only a little dampness. I jumped out early under dark and
gloomy skies. The foliage at these lower elevations was pretty lackluster; we
were a bit away from peak, sadly. However, there was a beautiful creek nearby
to keep me occupied for a while until my wife rousted herself and we broke
camp.
Turbulence, Creek Bed, Creek at
Smokemont, Smokemont Campsite, Cradled, Abandoned Bridge, Cornerstone
Back at the visitor’s center, the options for a gloomy
overcast day full of rain seemed a bit slim. Most of the scenic vistas were clouded
in at high altitude, and some of the hikes would have just been too slippery.
Instead of the mountains, we headed to the southwest side of the park and did
some hiking in the Deep Creek area. The drive was very pretty (once we got past
the Cherokee tourist area), but you never got to forget that this was prime
tourist territory even in the rural sections outside the park. I was pretty
excited to find one of the old “See Rock City” signs painted on an old shed by
the side of the road. The rain continued to intensify as we hiked through the
trail to various waterfalls[i]
at Deep Creek. The waterfalls themselves were practically out of a postcard,
and the leaf lined trail was picturesque. On a better day in better light it
would have been truly outstanding.
Smokemont Vista, Visitor’s Center,
Visitor’s Center Vista, Color in the Rain, See Rock City!, Bridge on Deep
Creek, Deep Creek Trail, Juneywhank Falls, Tom Branch Falls, Color and Flow,
Indian Creek Falls
Braving the Cherokee tourist gauntlet one more time, we
circled back to the Park to head to the Cades Cove area where we’d be spending
the night. Back in the park, we stopped briefly at Mingus Mill, a surviving
historic structure[ii].
Throughout the high latitudes on our way to the north side of the park, the
views were most occluded, even though the fall foliage colors gradually
improved.
Mingus Mill
Given the gloom of the day and the rain, we were racing
against the light[iii]
to get to the campsite before dark. Regardless we stopped along the way to get
in another hike to Laurel falls[iv].
The hike was pretty, but the scenery
wasn’t especially unique. Just as we reached the falls themselves, light broke
through the clouds and struck the top of the falls[v],
making it glow. On our way back we got
our first few glimpses of the valleys and ridges as the clouds parted here and
there.
Laurel Falls, Laurel Falls in Late
Light, Laurel Falls landscape
Finally arriving in Cades Cove, a decision was needed as to
whether we continued to sightsee along the Cades Cove loop (an auto path along
a sweeping valley surrounded by mountains) or get the camp set up. I coerced my
wife to take a run around the valley and I’m glad we did, because the clouds
broke and golden afternoon light poured in between rain bursts. There was a
large double rainbow over tan meadows of summer grasses as we made our way
along through wooded outskirts. Deer were everywhere, and wild turkeys crossed
in large flocks between cars. Every so often a car ahead of us would stop and
its occupants would run excitedly into the woods after a potential bear[vi].
We underestimated how long the loop would take, with stops, and by the time we
got back it was dark, and the rain had commenced in earnest.
Cades Cove Landscape, Deer and Graves,
Cades Cove – oil painting style.
We scouted out a site and got our tent up quickly, but
cooking in the campground was out of the question without a secondary tarp.
Luckily, we had passed a covered amphitheater at the ranger station. We
backtracked to it, and spent a damp and chilly time making food under its
sprawling roof. The rain did not let up until the next morning…
NOTES
[i]
The first of many, many, many waterfalls. By the end of the trip, after a
couple hundred pictures of waterfalls from all angles, I was waterfall’d out.
[ii]
Of which there were many in the park. The park did a really good job with its
historic buildings. Some places rope them off, and they feel almost isolated
from their context. Everywhere we looked here there were historic structures,
often just in their original state/context. So even the creepy cabins in the
woods felt somewhat less creepy because the sites were so well preserved. Still
creepy though. You could almost hear the echoing strains of many a joyous
cousin-marriage under their beams.
[iii]
You may recognize this phrase from descriptions of other camping trips. We are
perpetually horrible about getting to our campsite before dark, and inevitably
are setting up by flashlight. As someone who is pretty interested in being out
in the last of the golden afternoon light at scenic places, this usually
doesn’t bother me as much as it does my wife. However, in bear country, dark is
not my friend.
[iv]
Waterfall #4 for those keeping track. (1-3 = Juneywhank Falls, Tom Branch
Falls, and Indian Creek Falls from Deep Creek)
[v]
Part of me was ecstatic at the beauty. Part of me was fretting over the ability
to properly expose photographs for the expanded dynamic range.
[vi]
We finally saw our first bear in the park when we came across a treed cub. It
was far too dark to make much out, and I was fairly wary of a mother bear being
somewhere nearby, so we left, even though there was a crowd of idiots taking
flash pictures of the bear in the near dark woods.
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