Wiki source code of Great Smoky Mountains

Last modified by Richard Johnson on 2024/04/22 19:41
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1 Ok, we're finally back in civilization after 4 days in the Great Smoky Mountains!
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3 This is going to take a while to fill in, but here's an outline of how the Great Smoky Mountains visit went:
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6 The place camped was [[Cades Cove Campground>>https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232488]]
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10 Day 1:
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13 "Hike from Hell" at Taylorsville Lake:
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15 We happened upon one of the employees at Taylorsville Lake Campground on the morning when we were supposed to leave.  Since checkout wasn't until 1pm, so we talked with her about possible hikes we could do before we left.  We mentioned that we wouldn't mind actually seeing the lake before we left.  She suggested that we should take a particular hike down to the lake via a trail which would lead us by an eagle nest.  She said it would only take about an hour or so, we could see the eagle nest, and then complete the loop and come back.  Sounded great!
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18 Thus began the "Hike from hell"!
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21 We saw a box turtle along the trail.  That was nice!
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24 Finally, we go down the the lake and saw the path disappear into the lake, only to appear on the other side!  (Wish we had a pic here, but we don't!)
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26 At this point, we pulled out the GPS on the phone, followed the trail until it came close to the road, then scrambled up a steep hillside, through the bushes, until we reached the road, hiking back down the road to get back to our trailer.  We finally got out just after 1pm.  It was a nightmare.  The same lady happened to drop by just before we left, asking how the hike went.  Richard told her that it was by far the worse hike we had been on in many years!  She didn't seem pleased.
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31 So, having left the nightmare, we drove to Great Smoky Mountains via Maryville!
32 In Maryville, we dropped by the address for an Amazon Delivery location named "Maryville - Licorice".
33 Strange name but we had an address, so we went there. It was a BP gas station. No Amazon delivery location in site.
34 I went in and asked. They said, "right outside, around the side of the building".
35 Sure enough, there was!
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37 Arrived and had a little difficulty backing into the site, thus pushing the neighbors across the road to move their car.
38 Later, I went by to thank them for moving their car, and was abducted and forced to drink glass after glass of wine!
39 The wife later came to our trailer and invited Kelly to join us.
40 We had a great time discussing just about anything you can think of (yeah, that, too) until around midnight.
41 They were planning to leave around 8am, which they came close to doing.
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44 ----
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46 Day 2:
47 "Middle Prong Trail"
48 On the way to Grotto Falls, we saw a bear in the distance
49 "Grotto Falls"
50 Kept seeing strange 5 sided cuts in some of the rocks along the trail.
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53 ----
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55 Day 3:
56 The morning started off with lots of rain, which was fine, we were tired.
57 Finally, it stopped raining and we walked over to the office to request to stay another day.
58 They said we could!
59 Now, it's time to do some hikes:
60 "School House Gap trail"
61 Met a few people coming back along the trailer who told us about a ranger answering questions down the trail.
62 We found the unmarked trail which we were tald about yesterday.
63 Found the volunteer lady down in the meadow with the flowers.
64 Saw lots of pretty flowers
65 Saw a very nice waterfall
66 Walked back along the trail with the volunteer who was leaving when we were.
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68 Drove around Cades Cove Loop Road
69 Saw some of the old buildings from the community in the area
70 Saw some deer
71 Came back home
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74 ----
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76 Day 4, we left Cades Cove on the first bright, sunny, day since we arrived.  Oh well, we were done and it was [[time to go>>McDowell_Nature_Preserve]].
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