The Mountains Are Calling... Part 4

Wait!  What about Part 3?!?!

So.much.nature!

Us on the Trillium Gap Trail,

in front of Grotto Falls

Tuesday morning dawned a little foggy (we were in the Smoky Mountains, after all), but the rain had mostly abated.  It was a great day to go for a hike!

My Mom's side of the family is from the greater Knoxville area (Dad's is actually from around Lexington, Kentucky so I was hitting all of the ancestral stomping grounds on this trip), and growing up, we took several trips to the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge.  However, this was Chris' first trip to this national park, and I wanted to ensure he saw some of the best parts, including a great stroll through the woods. One of our bucket list experiences is to hike up Mount LeConte and stay at the LeConte Lodge; the only way to get to the Lodge is to climb up the mountain, and even though we weren't able to get an overnight reservation for this trip, I figured we could somewhat duplicate the experience by hiking on Mount LeConte itself, up part of the Trillium Gap trail.

After enjoying another day's breakfast on our front porch (Chris really has mentioned this as one of his favorite experiences of this trip - we are officially old), we changed into hiking clothes and drove out of Pigeon Forge to the Sugarlands Visitor Center of Smoky Mountain National Park. There, we checked with the ranger to ensure the trail was useable (i.e., not too wet for hiking and not too many recent angry bear sightings), and after hearing it was, we made our way back through Gatlinburg and onto the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  

Making our way into the park -

the park road is a decently sized thoroughfare

between Tennessee and North Carolina,

so you see folks hauling stuff as well

as the standard tourist traffic you'd see in any national park.

I've never seen anyone driving a double-wide

into Grand Canyon NP!

Chris was on photographer duty today

Check out the rainbow at the top of the shot

Wild turkeys!

Also, the dashboard/main console of

our rental Nissan Rogue!

That's why they call them the Smokys!

Upon reaching the trailhead, we grabbed a parking space.  I headed to use the bathroom and while I was inside, I alerted Chris (I sent him a note from my watch - I can shout pretty loud, but that would have been impressive, even for me) to the black bear I'd just seen getting ready to cross the road.  He attempted a few shots:

I *promise* there is a bear - 

or at least the very top edge of one -

in these photos.

Time to start hiking!  The elevation was around 3,000 feet above sea level where we hopped on the trail, and we hiked almost straight up (it seemed).  Our highest elevation was at our turnaround point, the 2 mile mark, at around 4,000 feet, so we'd gained a good 500 feet per mile!  

Starting up the trail, looking back

at the trailhead/parking area

The rain mostly stayed away, which was nice,

although the trail was a bit muddy in spots,

due to the showers the week before

We'd pass Grotto Falls on our way,

and the trail was much less crowded after that point.

We hopped over a few little water crossings like this one

We don't know if the large amount of rain or something else

felled this dude, but he was big!

As advertised, right at 1.2 miles into the hike, we passed Grotto Falls, which was beautiful.  It wasn't too hot during our hike - mainly in the low to mid 70s - but we still enjoyed getting misted.

There it is!

Peeping out at other hikers from behind the falls - 

you actually walk behind them to continue your hike

After the falls, the climb started up again, and we quickly left behind most of the other hikers and the noise (the noise being both from said hikers but also from the falls themselves - they were loud).  One of the reasons I picked this trail was the aforementioned association with the LeConte Lodge; just as the only way for overnighters to get to the Lodge is to hike the mountain, it's also the only way the Lodge can get its provisions.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, a pack of llamas climbs this trail, bringing the Lodge all of the food and other supplies it needs to keep running (can you imagine the llamas going behind the waterfall?!?!?).  While we didn't see the llamas themselves - our hike was on a Tuesday - we did see evidence of their normal schedule:

So many poopers!

I learned several years back -

on a llama hiking adventure with Mom

in Taos, New Mexico -

that since llamas are prey animals,

they're very careful where they do their business.

They prefer to ditch their "extra weight,"

then move on down the trail,

putting as much distance as possible, as quickly as possible,

between them and their identifying scat.

After all, if a predator can find your poo,

it probably wants to find you.

When llamas walk the same trail,

over and over again,

they pick one location to potty,

and they use it over and over again.

This area was actually the most slippery

section of the trail, for this very reason.

Chris figured if it was good enough for the llamas,

it was good enough for him.

He's in here, having a nature break.

Climbing to the 2 mile/4,000 foot mark, we proclaimed ourselves done for the day (well, halfway done for the day - we still had to make it back down) and turned around.  Heading back past the falls, it wasn't long before we returned to the car to enjoy the charcuterie lunch we'd brought along.

Oooh, everything was so green!

Our makeshift picnic table

The versatile Nissan Rogue, indeed!

Once lunch was over, it was back in the car to start our drive home to the cabin.  We finished out the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, taking some pictures along the way:

It's crazy that the early settlers built cabins

so close to the road!

The Roaring Fork stream cutting through the area

We pondered stopping at a brewery in Gatlinburg on the way home, but we were tuckered.  Making it back around mid-afternoon, we had plenty of time to do more laundry (we were a bit muddy), take a nap, sit in the hot tub, and watch some tv (the cabin had a Roku, but we have a travel Fire Stick for these situations).  Enjoying more pasta and cake for dinner/dessert, it wasn't too long before it was time for bed once again!

On the next blog, we visit Aunt Granny's place!

Later!

Amy