Great Smoky Mountains

Lee bought a tent earlier this year for Christmas and we hadn't had a chance to try it out together until this weekend.  A month ago, we decided to go camping in the Smoky Mountains during the fall so we could relax, enjoy the colors, and take plenty of pictures.  As we don't have many vacation days, we decided to make it a weekend trip.    After work Friday, we got everything ready for the trip (the cooler, the coleman, the tent, chairs, sleeping bag, etc.).  I forget how much stuff you have to take when camping. 

On our way to Clingman's Dome

Our plan was to leave early, early Saturday morning to miss as much Pigeon Forge traffic as possible.  I got up at 2:30am and showered and started packing the final items (electronics, chargers, etc.).  Lee did the same.  We moved a little slowly because it was so early, but we finally got to the car around 3:45.  We packed our final things, got buckled in, and tried to start the car.   Nothing happened.  Awesome.  We had a dead battery. 

 I knew it was low because Walmart told me at my last oil change, but I figured I'd wait until my next oil change to replace it.  After all, it was just on the low side, not dead.  Apparently it was a little lower than I thought.  We pulled our other vehicle around and tried to jump the car for a while, but it was to no avail.  That battery was gone.  Our only hope was to replace the battery, take the other vehicle, or just stay home. 

 We headed to Walmart around 4:45.  It was freezing out, but there was a surprising amount of people at Walmart.  We got the new battery, got home, and Lee replaced it.  We got back in the car and it started up just fine.  So with a bit of a late start, we were nervous that traffic would be insane going into Gatlinburg.  A few hours later, when we got to Pigeon Forge, the traffic was surprisingly (and pleasantly) light.  We made our way through, checking out everything that had been changed or added since our last time through. 

"Riverfront" Campsite

Once we were through Gatlinburg, we headed to Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.  This was a 6-mile loop that's just for sight-seers.  The only problem with this loop was that half of the people wouldn't pull over at the viewpoints to take pictures, they would just stop in the middle of the road.  

The second half of the loop was nice with the creek and fall colors, but it took a while with everyone stopping.  Once we left the Roaring Fork, we headed up to Clingman's Dome.  Clingman's Dome is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Unfortunately, it was snowing and foggy, so we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us.  It was pretty fun seeing snow though.  It made me ready for winter!

On our way down we stopped at Newfound Gap.  Newfound Gap is the lowest drivable pass through the Smokies. It's a nice photo-op.  Just about everywhere we stopped had trails, but we didn't take the time for any of them.  Once we left the gap, we took our time heading to our campsite.  We stopped at a few places to take pictures.  Once we checked in at our campground, we made our way to our spot.  We reserved it online the night before.  Our spot was right by the three-spot parking lot and was about 30 feet from a small river.

We actually paid an extra $4 for our riverfront campsite.  It was completely worth the $4.  We were a good distance from the people next to us, close to our car, and had the river right by us.  The river was loud enough for us to play our radio where we could hear it, but our camp neighbors couldn't.  We had to bring the radio to listen to the UT game.  Luckily, we got a really good signal.  We listened to music while we set up camp.  Well, we listened to it while Lee set up camp.  I helped where I could.  

Once the tent was set up, we got everything else together.  We brought the Coleman grill and made boiled hot dogs for dinner.  Also, we made hot chocolate.  It felt wonderful in the 30 degree weather.  

We started layering up to prepare for the cold.  The hot chocolate helped with that.  Once we got tired, we went to bed.  I stuffed my layers with hot hands and tried to get comfortable in my sleeping bag.  I felt like the kid on A Christmas Story - I could barely put my arms down.  The good news is the only part of me that got cold that night was my nose.  I just pulled my turtleneck up to cover it.  We slept as we listened to the nearby river.  We woke up in the morning and started breakfast - eggs, toast, bacon, and more hot chocolate. 

We took our time packing up and then checked out.  Our next stop was Cades Cove.  Lee and I had never been there, but we knew it was pretty popular, so we checked it out.  It was pretty cool, with a nice view, but we should have taken the first exit out.  Instead, we took the longer scenic route and ended up looking at the same thing for an hour.  There was bumper to bumper traffic and the view never changed.

I would definitely recommend seeing it, but I'd take the short route next time.  After that, our last stop was Look Rock.  There was a short uphill hike to the top of Look Rock, but the view was awesome.  You could see all around - the mountains on one side, the city of Maryville and others on the other side.  While at the top, we met a couple from Maryville.  The man was an air traffic controller.  Apparently he was friends with the guy who fell asleep this year.  He had some interesting stories about the guy and his personal life.  After we finished having a nice conversation with them (we even ventured into politics), we said goodbye and took our pictures.  That was the last stop on our trip, so we headed home.  We made it home around 8pm.  For a two day trip, we had a ton of fun and got to take some amazing pictures.  I'm sure we'll visit in the fall again sometime.