Deep Creek, Cherokee (Thurs.)

It was time to do laundry again so that was my mission first thing this morning.  This campground has a pretty nice laundry, so I intended to let Joe sleep in, but he decided we should probably drain our gray tank and he couldn't walk very well, so he had me go outside and pull that plug.  By the time I got my laundry loaded in the car, he was up but he wasn't walking very well.  His heel is really sore so after I got back with the clean clothes (which he helped me put away), we stopped at our new favorite restaurant Fireflys for breakfast, then headed on todays drive, which took us outside the park along the Foothills Parkway (west side), then on U.S. 129 across the bottom through the Nantahala National Forest to Hwy 28, then Hwy 74 through Bryson City to Deep Creek.

Back to Fireflys.  This little restaurant is decorated in a firefly theme, and even the restrooms are identified that way -- Flashers for men, Flashettes for women.  Its funny watching men stand at the door trying to figure out which one they are (I don't think they like to think of themselves as "flashers.")  Joe pointed out that the other one is wearing lipstick, that seemed to help.

The scenery along this Parkway was beautiful.  From one lookout, we could see the community of Maryville off one side, and the valleys in the park off the other side.

Hwy. 129 along here is known as the Dragon Highway because the shape of the curves looks like a dragon tail.  It is very popular with motorcycle riders and there is a bike rally somewhere around here this weekend, so we met and were passed by lots of bikes.  At one pull-off, one of the biker comes over to a small group of other bikers and asked them if they were there for the rally.  They told him yes.  He said he was heading home because he had broken his ankle 3 days ago and was in a lot of pain (not his words).  He said all he had with him for pain was pot.  One of the other guys suggested he let them (or someone) trailer his bike home and ride back with them (he was from Cleveland, Ohio).  Don't know how all the ended but it didn't sound like he was going to take their suggestion.

Some of these bikers really lay into the corners, but I didn't get a good picture of that.  We also met a couple of sports cars trying out their speed and brakes on this stretch.


We pulled into a campground (Joe needed to make a pit stop) and saw this little Smart Car covered with branches.  I'm thinking a bear must have gotten the driver.

 Our next stop was at the Cable Cove Boat Ramp, where we drove right down to the water to check it out.  The river/lake (not sure which) is very pretty here, sort of greenish.  Later on we saw muddy water coming down the creeks, so I'm not sure why this was so clear.

We drove through Bryson City to Deep Creek Campground, got a sub to go for lunch.  There were some waterfalls here that I was interested in, shorter distance so I thought I could walk to them.  The first one was right behind this creek they are tubing on.

 This was only 0.2 miles from the parking lot, called the Tom Branch Falls, "a wispy waterfall that gently splashes over 80 feet into Deep Creek below. 

This creek is heavily used by the tubers.  They looked like they were really enjoying the water.

There was a loop trail off this trail that was another 0.3 miles to Juney Whank Falls.   "An eighty-foot cascade of water starts above you and runs under a log footbridge with handrails, and meets up with Deep Creek at the bottom of the trail."  This 0.3 mile trail was all uphill, but I made it.  Joe didn't accompany me on these hikes today because of his foot (heel) so I was on my own.  However, he did chat with a guy who noticed our Elvis license plate and started talking to Joe.  It turns out he is an Elvis impersonator, one of 50,000, he said.  And would you believe Joe didn't even take a photo, even though I left him with our second camera and he had his cell phone. 

We drove back through Bryson City on the way to Cherokee.  Jeff and Brenda, this one is for you.

Cherokee is the Indian reservation, and they had bears painted with scenes all through town.  We didn't stop here (we have seen lots of Indian things in our travels and at home) but I wish I had taken photos of all the bears.  They were pretty neat.

As we headed back on 441, the road we drove halfway yesterday, to Clingmans Dome, we came upon 2 elk grazing in a pasture.  And then we saw a field with some woodchucks, 3-4, in it.  Didn't get a picture of the woodchucks but we had seen an exhibit of them in the Visitor Center.  Otherwise, I would have assumed they were marmots.  The woodchucks look a lot like beavers except they don't have the flat paddle tail that a beaver has.

We passed a sign to Collins Creek (blurry) so guess who's been here before!

We drove for a while then pulled off to stretch our legs.  They have these "Quiet Walkways" all along the highways in the park, just places to take a little hike with no destination or specific attraction at the end.  But since my hike up to Juney Whank falls was all by myself, I figured I already had my quiet walkway for the day and didn't need any more hiking anyhow.

We think we might have seen the first Rhododendrons today, down on the south side of the park.  Not sure if that is what they were but we think so.  As we headed back toward Gatlinburg for dinner, it began to rain a little.  The clouds were hanging low, below the mountain tops.

Our evening plan was to eat in Gatlinburg, then catch the EWVD on the way home.  But the only place we thought we might be able to park, so Joe wouldn't have to walk, was No Way Jose's.  However, we must have hit it lucky here the other day because there were no parking places to be found.  I ended up dropping Joe off and driving up to one of the parking lots (I actually parked at the church next door for $5),   So we ate another delicious Mexican meal, then headed back to Cades Cove for our scenic drive.  Gatlinburg is really a pain to drive around in, but we did take a back street on the way out, and came underneath the chair lift ride.  And I finally got my photo of the park sign.

We were a little later getting on our evening drive and since we had seen bears every day we've been here, I didn't expect that we see any tonight.  But, I was wrong.  Joe wisely turned off onto a little side road and we came upon a mama bear with 2 cubs right alongside the road.  It was almost too dark for good pictures, but we took a lot, and got to watch them for several minutes.  They didn't seem at all bothered by us, and we were so close I could almost touch them.  The mama, then one of the cubs, were digging in the roots of a tree right by the edge of the road.  At one point, I started to roll up my window when the mama moved, but she just walked down the road a little, so the window went right back down.  We have pictures on 2 cameras and 2 cell phones, so I'll try to pick out the best.  Joe got the best one, the first one, on his cell phone.
 

They finally wandered off into the woods so we turned around and finished our drive.  We saw a total of 22 deer on tonight's drive.  And for the day, 6 turkeys, 2 elk, 3 woodchucks, and 3 bears.  I think we put about 180 miles on the Explorer today, most of it at 30 mph.  A great day.