We all slept pretty well on our first night in tents in the Smoky Mountains, with maybe less back problems in the morning in the kid's tent. We got up around 7:30 and worked on breakfast. We made omelettes and bacon and had some cereal and fruit. Then it was Toby's turn to help clean the dishes, while Rebecca and Calvin packed up for our day:
Then we headed out for the Cades Cove scenic drive, about a 1/2 hour away from the campsite. Apparently a cove means something different in the Smokies then it does in Maine. Cades Cove is a wide, isolated valley with a number of old buildings dating back to the early 1800s. The historic buildings include several churches, homesteads and a working gristmill. In some ways it's similar to Yosemite valley, in terms of both beauty and the congested traffic winding it's way around the 11-mile road that loops around it.
Here's a panaramic shot of the valley:
And one of the homesteads, the John Oliver Place:
Then we did the Abram's falls hike, a five mile round trip hike off the loop road. Here's the view from the trailhead:
And here are some pictures from the hike itself. We had a fair amount of rain during the hike, but it was warm and everyone was a trouper so we made it all the way to the falls.
And the mill:
Rebecca noticed a barn swallow flying into the house next to the mill, and the boys and I found it sitting in it's nest:
The end of the scenic loop was only 3 or 4 miles but it took almost an hour to complete it because the cars were bumper to bumper. We got back to the campground around 6pm and made a dinner of chili, corn chips and celery. We had time to make another fire and more smores before the rain came back and drove us into the tents for the night.
It was a little challenging getting everyone ready for bed with the rain, but we managed it. Although it rained more than we would have liked during our time in the park, we were pretty lucky with the timing for the most part.
Tomorrow, Nashville.
