Misty

Morning

Our first night was at Smokemont campground, just north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center.  We had heard that elk frequent the meadow by the visitor center early in the morning, so we got up at dawn to check it out.  It was remarkable.  Great Smoky Mountains gets its name because of the “smoky” fog that almost perpetually floats around the hills of the park.  Forgive me for calling them hills as I just can’t call anything a mountain that is east of the Mississippi because they’re just not big enough.  Anyway, the fog was hugging the ground as the sun came up and there were dozens of elk grazing in the meadow.  Rainy got several amazing shots as we circled the meadow and since it was mating season, we got to see/hear several of the males bugling.  I think her shots of the elk in the fog are some of my favorites ever.

A New World

Record

While visiting Great Smoky Mountains in fall is spectacular, the crowds are enormous.  We wanted to get to Clingman’s Dome, one of the highest vistas around, but the parking lot was completely full and the backup of cars was crazy.   A few miles down the road was the Newfound Gap overlook parking area.   This is literally right on the North Carolina – Tennessee border and very crowded also.  We were hoping to park Cousin Eddie here and ride our scooter the rest of the way to Clingman’s Dome (where parking the scooter wouldn’t be an issue).  We were so lucky to find a curbside spot at Newfound Gap that would fit our RV, but there was an issue.  In order to unload Ruby Sue, we’d have to put our ramp out into traffic which would certainly anger those drivers.  Unloading is way easier than loading and we were able to find enough of a gap in traffic to safely get that done.  Phew!   We hopped on the scooter and drove up to Clingman’s Dome where we were able to park Ruby in a spot no one else could fit into.  The hike is entirely on concrete and had people pretty much wall to wall.  And it’s fairly steep, so some of the folks were struggling.  Fortunately, there are benches along the way to help out.  There’s an iconic tower at the end that gives visitors a grand vista of the park.  We enjoyed all of it and even got to take a little side jaunt on the Appalachian Trail.  After getting back to Eddie, we were facing the real test.  Loading up Ruby Sue usually takes us at least 5 minutes and the line of cars was steady.  We waited several minutes until someone stopped traffic a bit down the road to wait for a parking spot.  And we jumped into action.  I think we had her back up the ramp and onto the carrier in less than 2 minutes.  Better call Guinness.

Cade’s Cove 

Cade’s Cove is a must visit part of the park.  The scenic loop is great and we saw several black bears in our multiple trips on Ruby Sue around the loop.  The road to Cade’s Cove runs along the Little River and passes several trailheads.  We stopped for some great long exposure silky water photos and took a hike to Laurel Falls.  It’s a nearly 3 mile roundtrip and pretty easy.  The crowds weren’t too bad and we were able to set up the camera for some excellent shots at the falls.  Along the way, there were some nice views where the fall foliage was working towards its peak for the season.  Back at camp we decided to make another trip around the loop, aiming for the Cades Cove Visitor Center.  It had started to rain a little, but we donned our jackets and headed out.  We stopped for some neat pictures of one of churches along the loop, but after that, it really started pouring.  Our jackets were mostly ineffective at keeping us dry and by the time we reached the visitor center, we were soaked to the bone.  The ranger there said we were very brave, but I think the word he was looking for was idiotic.  We picked up some gifts for the kids and headed back out to the rain.  It was steady, but not quite the downpour we had earlier.   We camped for 3 nights at Cade’s Cove and the forecast for our last night was for 50+ mph winds.  We pulled in the RV slide to be safe and hunkered down for the night.  We had no issue sleeping and never noticed any extreme winds.  Maybe we were just tired out from getting soaked.  Regardless, we loved our time at Cade’s Cove.

Great Smoky Mountains is an excellent National Park.  There are great hikes and beautiful views.  We’re not into Gatlinburg, but lots of people enjoy the town.  If you visit, we recommend camping inside the park and visiting both high point vistas and valleys with waterfalls.  And take time to seek out the wildlife.  Fall is amazing, but any time you can visit will be worthwhile.  Just make sure you bring rain gear.