Sunday, May 03, 2009

DAY 2

We planned to make an early start and climb the Chimney Tops but woke up to rain! We did not bring rain gear which next time we will for sure! We changed our plans and did Cades Cove. We saw a lot of wile turkey, deer and even a Mama bear with her cub! The kids were thrilled beyond anything to see that! Daddy even braved closer to get a good picture!





The famous waterfall on the main road.




We went back to the campsite for lunch and rest.




We decided to head back up to Clingman's Dome and hike some trails. To our surprisd there was a bear in the woods right off the main road! I jumped out of the van, ran across the road to get a picture! There were actually two bears but the second was father in the woods.


Daniel took us to his favorite the Spruce Fir Nature Trail. It was fun and oh so beautiful!







Then we hiked some of the Appalacjian Trail. Smiley was a sport on this hike. He did such a great job! We all clapped when he finished! He thought he had climbed the whole mountain top! He said "boy, I am hot!"

We met some thru-hikers from GA to ME! We actually gave them a ride into Gatlinburg for some R&R. Daniel knew that backpackers try to hitch a ride so we offered one to them! They greatly appreciated it! It was fun to hear the stories of backpacking adventures from Fiddle and Savage. Good luck to them!!!

The dandelions along the road!

Princess found herself a handful by our van!


We got back to camp late. Ate dinner and S'mores! Read a chapter or two and off to sleep.

2 comments:

Kim said...

Awwww, it looks like you all had a great time!! I loved all of the pictures. You should had a pic of you carrying princess. It looks like the dog was a coyote. Enjoyed the sound of the creek. You need to get this photo album done soon!!!

Laura said...

What a fun trip. I love Cades Cove-Will and I went there in our other life-before kids, you know. :-) I can't wait until Caleb is a little older so we can go on a camping trip.