Last year we moved our daughter to Tennessee, then we went and drove around Tennessee, then rented a cabin right outside the Smokey Mountains National Park. It was a great trip. So this year we went back to Tennessee and the Smokey Mountains. The weather was great, most every day, the temps through out the day, were in the lower to mid 70s, in the Smokey Mountains, North Carolina, and around Gatlinburg.
We went through Louisiana, Mississippi, then Alabama, Georgia, then Tennessee, then North Carolina, then back to Tennessee. Then back that same route, back to Texas, when we came home.
Alabama, and Georgia are beautiful, but North Carolina and Tennessee, are scenic. The roads in Alabama and Georgia were crappy, Mississippi and Louisiana were not much better. The roads in North Carolina were very nice, most of the roads we drove in Tennessee were also very nice. The trip there through Alabama, on the main highways and then back on the main highways. Those roads were crappy. But we took some back roads a long ways on the way home through Alabama, those were some nice roads. My wife really liked those areas we drove through on those back roads in Alabama, she started sounding like she was ready to start looking for some property there. I was liking Tennessee and North Carolina a bit more, liking their weather more. Alabama weather was close, but not as nice as the weather in south east Tennessee and north west North Carolina.
We went through a Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, then into the Smokey Mountains National Park. If we go back, we are definitely going to get North Carolina fishing licenses. We saw places there we really wanted to fish, but only had Tennessee fishing licenses.
Our fishing did not go so well. We drove through the park, and around Gatlinburg for a few days, then the night before we decided to go fishing it rained hard. Then the next day, we went fishing. The streams were all murky with silt from the runoff. So we did not do very well. My wife caught the only trout, she caught a rainbow trout. Then I caught some small little fish, that looked like a large minnow with a red tail. Don't have any idea what it was. That was all we caught. We tried fishing a few different spots, but everywhere we went the water was murky. We realized we waited too long in the trip to go fishing. There is a place right outside of Gatlinburg, called Greenbrier trail. That looked like it would be a great place to fish, it is in the park. But they had it closed down, we were told because of heavy rains before we got there, there had been some flooding. Greenbrier looked like a great place to fish, but we did not get to try it.
Shortly after first getting into the Smokey Mountains NP, there was a sigh for elk crossing. I thought yeah sure, whatever, ha ha. Then about 1/2 mile later, there was a pasture/meadow, with large tan things in it. Those tan things turned out to be elk cows. We saw five if I remember correctly, no bulls, no calves. On the way out of the park, when we were leaving, in the same general area. We saw, seven cows and four calves, still no bulls. I have heard in recent years, that Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and I think Missouri have all, reintroduced elk in those states, but not heard anything about elk in North Carolina, or the Smokey Mountains. We saw elk twice in the same area, on the North Carolina side of the Smokey Mountains NP.
On our trip going to our cabin, we went through the Smokey Mountains NP, we entered in from the North Carolina/southern side. Then went north to Tennessee. We stopped a an overlook, in the North Carolina side of the park, from there you could see Clingman's Dome, which is the highest mountain in the Smokey Mountains, and Tennessee. We then got back on the road heading to Gatlingburg, and saw a road to Clingman's Dome, so we took that road, then climbed to the top of Clingman's Dome. It's only a half mile hike supposedly, from the parking lot to the top, but it gets pretty steep, gives your legs a good workout. No zig zagging trail, it goes straight up to the top. That trail crosses the Appalachian Trail, on the way to the top. We actually crossed the Appalachian Trail twice, there was another trail, we hiked a couple days later, that also crossed the Appalachian Trail. That has to be one serious trail, it's not for me. Seeing the line, where the Appalachian Trail goes, just through the Smokey Mountains, very quickly tells me, NOPE!, not hiking that trail.
The day we were leaving to come home, we were trying to find a stream that would be clear, and then do some fishing before we left. But every stream we looked at was still murky. Then I saw a sign for the Alum Cave trail. So we decided to go hike that trail, as our last thing to do before we left the Smokey Mountains. The trail is supposed to be 2.3 miles, but all I got to say, is they did not use the same measurement system, that was used in other areas we have hiked in the past. That 2.3 mile trail, sure seemed more like about 3.7 miles. From what some people we talked to told us, I would bet the trail is longer than 2.3 miles. That was a pretty good hike, very nice scenery, it was worth the hike. I started raining lightly, while we were hiking up the trail and then back down the trail. Then after leaving there, we stopped on another mountain top overlook, about 15 minutes later. While taking pictures there, it started pouring hard.
These pictures are from the first day, when we went through the park on our way to the cabin.
We went through Louisiana, Mississippi, then Alabama, Georgia, then Tennessee, then North Carolina, then back to Tennessee. Then back that same route, back to Texas, when we came home.
Alabama, and Georgia are beautiful, but North Carolina and Tennessee, are scenic. The roads in Alabama and Georgia were crappy, Mississippi and Louisiana were not much better. The roads in North Carolina were very nice, most of the roads we drove in Tennessee were also very nice. The trip there through Alabama, on the main highways and then back on the main highways. Those roads were crappy. But we took some back roads a long ways on the way home through Alabama, those were some nice roads. My wife really liked those areas we drove through on those back roads in Alabama, she started sounding like she was ready to start looking for some property there. I was liking Tennessee and North Carolina a bit more, liking their weather more. Alabama weather was close, but not as nice as the weather in south east Tennessee and north west North Carolina.
We went through a Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, then into the Smokey Mountains National Park. If we go back, we are definitely going to get North Carolina fishing licenses. We saw places there we really wanted to fish, but only had Tennessee fishing licenses.
Our fishing did not go so well. We drove through the park, and around Gatlinburg for a few days, then the night before we decided to go fishing it rained hard. Then the next day, we went fishing. The streams were all murky with silt from the runoff. So we did not do very well. My wife caught the only trout, she caught a rainbow trout. Then I caught some small little fish, that looked like a large minnow with a red tail. Don't have any idea what it was. That was all we caught. We tried fishing a few different spots, but everywhere we went the water was murky. We realized we waited too long in the trip to go fishing. There is a place right outside of Gatlinburg, called Greenbrier trail. That looked like it would be a great place to fish, it is in the park. But they had it closed down, we were told because of heavy rains before we got there, there had been some flooding. Greenbrier looked like a great place to fish, but we did not get to try it.
Shortly after first getting into the Smokey Mountains NP, there was a sigh for elk crossing. I thought yeah sure, whatever, ha ha. Then about 1/2 mile later, there was a pasture/meadow, with large tan things in it. Those tan things turned out to be elk cows. We saw five if I remember correctly, no bulls, no calves. On the way out of the park, when we were leaving, in the same general area. We saw, seven cows and four calves, still no bulls. I have heard in recent years, that Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and I think Missouri have all, reintroduced elk in those states, but not heard anything about elk in North Carolina, or the Smokey Mountains. We saw elk twice in the same area, on the North Carolina side of the Smokey Mountains NP.
On our trip going to our cabin, we went through the Smokey Mountains NP, we entered in from the North Carolina/southern side. Then went north to Tennessee. We stopped a an overlook, in the North Carolina side of the park, from there you could see Clingman's Dome, which is the highest mountain in the Smokey Mountains, and Tennessee. We then got back on the road heading to Gatlingburg, and saw a road to Clingman's Dome, so we took that road, then climbed to the top of Clingman's Dome. It's only a half mile hike supposedly, from the parking lot to the top, but it gets pretty steep, gives your legs a good workout. No zig zagging trail, it goes straight up to the top. That trail crosses the Appalachian Trail, on the way to the top. We actually crossed the Appalachian Trail twice, there was another trail, we hiked a couple days later, that also crossed the Appalachian Trail. That has to be one serious trail, it's not for me. Seeing the line, where the Appalachian Trail goes, just through the Smokey Mountains, very quickly tells me, NOPE!, not hiking that trail.
The day we were leaving to come home, we were trying to find a stream that would be clear, and then do some fishing before we left. But every stream we looked at was still murky. Then I saw a sign for the Alum Cave trail. So we decided to go hike that trail, as our last thing to do before we left the Smokey Mountains. The trail is supposed to be 2.3 miles, but all I got to say, is they did not use the same measurement system, that was used in other areas we have hiked in the past. That 2.3 mile trail, sure seemed more like about 3.7 miles. From what some people we talked to told us, I would bet the trail is longer than 2.3 miles. That was a pretty good hike, very nice scenery, it was worth the hike. I started raining lightly, while we were hiking up the trail and then back down the trail. Then after leaving there, we stopped on another mountain top overlook, about 15 minutes later. While taking pictures there, it started pouring hard.
These pictures are from the first day, when we went through the park on our way to the cabin.
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