Last Day in the Smokies (6/8/15)

Today was another 12-hour day.  I thought this was supposed to be vacation time!  We started off shopping for socks in Pigeon Forge.  Joe had gotten some quarter-high ankle socks here two years ago that he really likes, and we remembered the store we got them at, so that was our first stop this morning.  They still had a few of that brand, but they were the shorter ones, and he didn't think they would be tall enough to cover his shoe, so we didn't buy any.  Then we headed out to the Park.

Our agenda today was waterfalls.  I ambitiously thought we might do two 1.3 (one-way) hikes but one of those was enough!  We did the Grotto Falls, another uphill climb (why can't they make roads that are level back to the falls?).  I was tired as soon as we got started, and we had only gone 0.1.

We stopped several times to rest.  I'm not sure it ever got any easier.

We finally came upon a little waterfall, and I was ready to settle for that!

And then, still not at the top, it started raining on us.  I must have had a brilliant moment this morning because I had put rain ponchos that Tiffany and Eric had given us from the Golf Open into my fanny pak this morning, so we dug them out and got them on.  I thought it was like quad riding with Jeff and Brenda, we always had to stop and don our rain gear.  But we were glad to have the ponchos.

And then we finally reached the top!  This waterfall was one that we could walk behind, and there was an outcropping of rock there that let us get out of the rain.

Staying dry.

 And Joe always has to try some selfies (you should see the ones I don't post).

We finally headed back down when the rain quit, and Joe found a rock he just knew we needed pictures from.  So I waded out to accommodate his wishes (as usual).

 And then it was his turn.

 It really is a wonder we didn't slip into the water.  Sometimes we forget we are 67-68 years old.  Coming down, this became a nature hike.  We found:

SALAMANDER

SNAIL

Looking for more wildlife.

This was the first salamander we had ever seen, so of course I had to do a little research.

"Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the “Salamander Capital of the World”?  There are more salamander species in the Smokies than almost anywhere else on earth.  Salamanders are commonly mistaken as lizards, but they’re actually more closely related to frogs. These amphibious creatures have scale-less skin that’s slippery and moist. Many of them are “lungless” and survive not by breathing in air through their mouth or nostrils but through small blood vessels in their skin. There are over thirty species of salamanders in the Smokies and if you’re visiting you have a pretty good chance of coming across one. They’re often found in cool, damp places like creeks, streams and rivers. You might stumble across one under a rock or log along a hiking trail. Salamanders are mainly carnivorous. Many of them use their jaws to capture small prey (insects, etc.). “Lungless” salamanders use their tongues to capture their prey similar to a frog.

We saw 5 or 6 salamanders as we came down the trail, and 2 snails.  It seemed like the rain shower had brought out the wildlife.  One little girl told us about a red one she had just seen, but we never found it.  I did find a picture of one on-line though, and Joe really wanted to find one of those.

Most of the ones we saw had been spotted by someone else.  Maybe the red one would have been easier for us to find.  We finally got back to the car and moved on down the Motor Trail we were on.  There was one more waterfalls on this road that we were going to stop at -- it did not require a hike.  It was called "Place of a Thousand Drips," and water was coming from lots of different spots.  This was a very pretty waterfall and the camera did not capture its beauty, even after we scaled the rocks to get closer.

Our nature finds at this stop were some little blue butterflies (we have seen several of these) and a red mushroom or toadstool.  The butterflies are much more blue when their wings are open.

Finally we got back into Gatlinburg and found some lunch.  We were starving but our main criteria was to find a restaurant that had parking (we did not want to have to pay $10 again to park downtown).  And we found a nice restaurant, had a nice lunch (by now it was 3:30), and I took Joe's picture as a park ranger.  He's still trying to figure out how to get into those "authorized personnel only" places so maybe this would work.

On the trail to the Grotto Falls, Joe happened to talk to a guy who told him we could find elk down by the Cherokee Village, so guess what!  We drove down there, which is a drive that takes you all the way through the park.  There was another waterfall down there that I was interested in, Mingo Falls, and it was only 0.2 (one way) so we thought we could get that in today too.  Sounded like a piece of cake until we started up the steps -- which were awkwardly spaced, both heights and width.  I really didn't think I could make it.  The second tenth was trail, so that was easier.  And it was a beautiful falls.

The Grotto Falls was only 25 foot high, but the Mingo Falls was 180 feet.  Both trails were rated "moderate," but I don't know about that.  It's the uphill that kills me.  I can do the walk, but going up in elevation is really hard on me.  

On the way down, we had more "nature."  Joe hung behind to take a picture of the steps, and I came across a little, bitty snake -- at least I think it was a snake.  Actually, I think it was a sidewinder snake because when I poked him with my shoe, he slithered like a sidewinder.  Joe didn't think that was the kind it was, but what does he know!!!

I don't know what kind it is, but it slithered sideways.  Maybe someone out there will know what kind it is.

We headed into the Cherokee Village.  I remembered from our earlier visit that this village had sculputes of bears painted all over town, that were beautiful.  So we did a different kind of bear hunting tonight -- we hunted down these bears so I could take some pictures.  We went into some gift shops hoping to buy a small (very small) one, but the only kind they had just had a small painting on the side, almost like a saddle bag.  The bears in town were some kind of contest several years ago, and tribal policy apparently does not allow others to be made.  So here's my pictures:

Can you tell I love these bears!!  Some of them had really beautiful scenes on both sides, so of course, I took pictures of both sides.  I just think they are awesome.

In the midst of our bear-hunting, we found a Wendy's and grabbed sandwiches to take out to the meadow to watch for the elk.  We found some geese in town on the pond there, so that added to today's wildlife collection. Oh, I also saw what I think was a groundhog, right in town.  Didn't get a picture of that.

When we got to the meadow, the elk were already there, and so were a few gawkers like us -- a bit of an elk jam.  There were 3 bull elk, one with a huge rack, the other two much younger.  We sat and watched them for probably a half hour -- in the rain.  They were on my side, so I kept getting wet and having to raise my window back up.  They were very cool, though.

It rained off and on pretty well since our first hike, about noon, sometimes lightly, sometimes a downpour.  We finally gave up on the elk and headed back through the park.  We pulled off once to take some photos of the clouds and mist hanging over the Smoky Mountains.

Too pretty for words.  And Joe pulled off again to take some twilight pictures.  Here, he messed with some of the different settings on our new camera, but of course he doesn't remember which setting goes with which picture.

 We finally finished our rainy night drive and got back to the RV about 10:00, very tired.  We finished off the fudge (Cathy), and I started trying to get the day recorded on the blog.  Another Excellent Adventure in the Smokies!

It would be easier to stay a few more days here -- there is lots to do, but we must move on tomorrow to meet up with our fellow travelers on Wednesday.  But the Smokies are a wonderful place to visit, and I hope we can return someday.