Friday's FIVE!

Cades Cove

Alum Cave Bluffs
Alum Cave Bluffs
Charlie's Bunion Trail - Appalachian Trail
Charlie's Bunion

We have just returned from our trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park - We had a wonderful time! This is a late entry for Friday's FIVE! and lists five highlights of our trip!

1. FIVE BEARS! After unpacking, we had time to go into town for dinner on Wed. night... just as we were leaving our cabin - we nearly hit a very, very large Black Bear! Then... on Thursday we saw a small cub running across Newfound Gap road - and then, Friday we made a trip out to Cades Cove and saw a mother and two large cubs. It was a record trip for Bear watching - We also saw a Coyote while we were horseback riding, several deer, a box turtle, a shrew, and group of turkeys... it was an eventful trip for wildlife!

2. CHARLIE'S BUNION - I have been hiking the Smokies since 1993 - and I introduced Bruce to the park in 2001. Bruce has now hiked every trail that I have ever hiked! Charlie's Bunion is a beautiful 8 mile round trip hike that follows a length of the Appalachian Trail. http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/charliesbunion.htm The trail reaches elevations over 6100 feet - and involves some technical climbing - but it ends in spectacular views.

3. ALUM CAVE BLUFFS - I think I mentioned this in a previous Friday's FIVE! This is one of my very, very favorite trails ... and I think this was my 7th trip to the Bluffs. Spectacular Vistas, interesting geology and amazing demonstrations of the biodiversity of the GSMNP make this a favorite for many GSMNP hikers.

4. SMOKY MOUNTAIN HORSE BACK RIDING - This was a first for us - Bruce grew up with horses of his own, however this was the first time we have been riding together - and the first time we enjoyed trails in the Smoky's while on horseback. The views were beautiful - and it was a wonderful way to enjoy the park while resting a day between hiking Charlies Bunion and Alum Cave bluff.

5. CADES COVE - The weather was perfect for enjoying Cades Cove 11 mile loop in the VW with the top down. As I indicated above - we saw 3 bears at Cades Cove - and a lot of deer. Traffic wasn't too bad and the color was beautiful - there are many 'pull off spots' to enjoy the scenery or get out and walk... or just sit and contemplate the beauty of the mountain. We brought along a growler of Velas Hellus from the Smoky Mountain Brewery - It really doesn't get much better than that! http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cadescove.htm

Friday's FIVE!

In anticipation of our upcoming hiking trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park - last week's Friday's FIVE! was a tribute to five of my favorite GSMNP hiking trails... This week I will highlight 5 of our families favorite "Parkway" hotspots. We truly do travel to GSMNP for the beauty of the National Park - the hiking and the amazing views...but after a hard day hiking, it is fun to stroll the Gatlinburg strip and experience some of the touristy schmaltz. There are some people that never make it south of Stop light #10 - and actually come to this area just for the downtown attractions - we are not those people... but I'm not ashamed to admit that we have fun while we are there...

1. The Big Floating Marble Ball at Ripley's Believe It or Not! http://www.ripleys.com/ I think we only visited the attraction one time... but a stroll down the Gatlinburg strip isn't the same without a quick push on the big floating ball.

2. The Fudge Shoppe - I LOVE Chocolate Pecan or Chocolate Walnut!!! Such a well deserved snack after an 8 mile hike!!! http://www.fudgeshoppeofthesmokies.com/

3. Smoky Mountain Brewery http://www.smoky-mtn-brewery.com/ Bruce and I love the Smoky Mountain Brewery - and the micro-brews.... We like to get a sampler and discuss and compare the attributes of the Black Bear Ale or the Cherokee Red ... We are usually visiting during the seasonal tap of Octoberfest...one we both really enjoy!!

4. Ripley's Believe It or Not! Aquarium http://www.ripleysaquariumofthesmokies.com/ Yes - it's true... this is one of the 'attractions' on the strip we really do enjoy. It is a wonderful aquarium ... and worth the price of admission.

5. Beneath the Smoke http://thegreatsmokeymountainsparkway.com/_shoppi/gsbensmo.htm I love this shop on the Parkway. It has wonderful prints - and paintings of the hiking trails and falls in the GSMNP ... there are wonderful wildlife photos and prints - a great collection of Big Sky Bears and various other interesting mountain collectibles, books and 'kadooies'....

Honorable Mention

The Happy Hiker - http://www.happyhiker.com/ This is a great Outfitter that isn't directly on Parkway... but it is a great place to browse and find supplies and accessories for hiking or kayaking.

Friday's FIVE!

When I graduated from OT school in 1993 - Steve and I took the girls on a much needed family vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and The Great Smoky Mountain National Park. That Smokies trip led to a tradition and a location that we all hold close to our hearts... We have all traveled back to the park many, many times since that first trip in 1993 - and Bruce and I have continued the tradition since our first visit together in November, 2001. In June, 2006 we made a family trip with all the kids... and at that time introduced Tyler to this place that we love so much. Hiking has become a favorite activity for all of us - and it is an activity that the girls have carried on with thier own families. This November when Betsy and Debbie commit to each other in Hawaii, they will be hiking amazing trails in the islands - and later this month, Bruce and I will be making our annual fall trip to GSMNP for hiking and leaf peeping. This weeks Friday FIVE! is a collection of five wonderful hikes that I have done in The Great Smoky Mountain National Park....

1. Alum Cave Bluffs is my favorite hike in the park. It offers so many spectacular moutain vistas as well as geological features. This is a 4.4 mile hike that climbs 1125 feet and reaches a heights of 4955 feet. I have made my way to Alum Cave six times - two of those times included hikes beyone Alum Cave and on to the top of Mt. LeConte in 1999 and again in 2001. In 1998 - we celebrated Betsy's 16th Birthday at Alum Cave. It is a wonderful hike - and if I had to choose one.... this would be my favorite!!! http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/alumcave.htm

2. Abrams Falls is another favorite hike. I have hiked this trail three times. We celebrated Katie's 16th birthday on this trail in 1996 - and Bruce and I made this hike together in 2003 and again with all the kids and Tyler in 2006. Getting to the trailhead is part of the excitement of this hike as the trailhead is found in beautiful Cades Cove. Abrams Falls is a 4.2 mile hike that ends at a beautiful 20' falls that flows over a bluff into a broad pool more than 100 feet across.

http://www.mysmokymountainvacation.com/abrams-falls.html

3. Andrews Bald - is a 3.5 mile roundtrip to a beautiful bald that offers picnic areas surrounded by rhododendron and azaleas and offer plenty of spectacular panoramic views of the Smoky Mountains and Fontana Lake. We have made this trip in 2005 and again in 2006 with the kids and Tyler. It is a beautiful hike - one of my very favorites - one I will probably do again! Because of the views on this hiking trip - we decided to journey to the Fontana Lake area in 2007. http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/andrewsbald.htm

4, Chimney Tops is a 4-mile strenous steep hike that ends in spectacular views at the top of a treacherous rocky trail at elevations of 4800. I have hiked this trail three times. We made this trip the first time in Spring 1995 - we weren't prepared for this difficult hike - I hiked in jeans and tennis shoes ... and I was about 100# overweight and thought it was physically one of the hardest things I had ever done. We hiked this trip again in 1998 after I had lost the 100# and I can vividly remember the triumphant feeling getting to the top of that mountain with ease during that trip. This is also the first hike that Bruce and I did together in GSMNP in Nov. 2001 shortly after we had just started dating. Bruce has a fear of heights - and it was on top of this mountains that he reminded me... "I'd climb mountains for you". http://www.gsmnp.com/pages/chimney_tops.html

5 . Rich Mountain Loop is a strenous 8.5 mile loop that climbs a total of 1736 feet and reaches heights of 3691 feet. The trailhead for this loop hike is also in Cades Cove - and begins at the entrance of Cades Cove and passes John Olivers cabin. This is a long, peaceful hike because the trail is long and strenuous, it isn't one of the more popular hikes in the hike. The trail offers beautiful elevated views of Cades Cove and Townsend. It was on this trail that I first added a Pileated Woodpecker to my birding lifelist. Bruce and I have hiked this trail one time, in October of 2005. http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/richmountain.htm

HONORABLE MENTION:
Grotto Falls is an easy 2.6 mile roundtrip to a 20+ foot straight falls that you can walk behind. It is a fun hike because it is also a route to Mount LeConte http://www.gsmnp.com/pages/mtleconte.html 8-10 Llamas trek to two times a week to deliver supplies to LeConte Lodge. http://www.lecontelodge.com/ The trailhead to Grotto Falls is found on Roaring Fork Motor Trail - a beautiful motor route that offers beautiful leaf peeping in the fall. I have hiked this trail two times - Oct. 1996 and October 2005.

http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/public-lands/national-parks/smoky-mountains/grotto-falls.html

In the 16 years that I have been traveling to GSMNP, we have hiked many, many trails - and many trails we have hiked more than once. Bruce and I have hiked trails on the Tennessee side of the park - and the North Carolina side of the park. We have visited Fontana lake - and Tsali for mountain bike riding....more of the honorable mention trails include:

• Charlies Bunion - I'm anxious to hike this trail with Bruce someday - I've hiked this part of the Appalachian trail one time - in March 1999.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlies_Bunion


• Indian Creek Loop - Includes Indian Creek, Deep Creek, Tom Abrams and Juney Whank falls in the North Carolina side of GSMNP http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/deepcreek.htm



• Laurel Falls - an easy, very popular paved hike to a beautiful falls. The first trail in the Smokies that we ever hiked! http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/waterfalls.htm



• Rainbow Falls - a beautiful, difficult falls hike that offers boths falls and views. http://www.gsmnp.com/pages/rainbow_falls.html
  

Addendum....

In honor of Katie's 28th birthday - my Friday FIVE! this week focused on the things that Katie and I enjoy doing together... however, there is one thing that I didn't include in the Friday FIVE! that is certainly worth an addendum - and possibly could have been top on the list of the Friday FIVE! When Katie was just 13 years old - we took our first family trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Little did we know, that it would become a family favorite vacation spot. We have since returned many, many times - and hiked many, many different trails in the National Park. Katie celebrated her 16th birthday on the Abrams Falls trail - and Betsy celebrated her 16th birthday on the Alum Cave Bluff trail. Two years ago - we took Tyler, the next generation to hike Andrews Bald. Discussing this with Katie today - we realized that there are so many things that we love about hiking in the smokies - packing the sandwiches for lunch on the trail, the sights and smells and vistas to enjoy on the trail, the time together, the silence, the hustle and bustle of downtown Gatlinburg and the taste of the cold beer after the hike - just to mention a few. There is just so much to enjoy - together as a group ... or just with our partners. We have passed this love on to a new generation....and before long, we'll be planning a trip to introduce Trevor to the Smokies.....