we started day 2 with the driving loop of cade's cove.
we wanted to see it but also get it over with to have time for a nice hike.
so we only stopped at the Baptist churches...
jk. we did only stop at the Baptist churches but it was more in an effort to pass some of the slow and stop peepers in front of us.
our cooler got quite a work out.
p kept asking me questions about who lived here and why and what did it mean to 'scratch out' a living in the mountains so i did the best i could to explain poor farmers before and families before gram was born and before and what it was like and not having a lot but working hard and all the sudden she popped out with 'like the red fern'. smart girl p, exactly like 'where the red fern grows.'
the only thing we found in that barn was trash and some fresh made human water.
these steps scared her to death. short and spaced she crawled back down them.
when she got to the bottom she announced she had done it all by herself like she had defeated a lion.
i'm getting really ticked i missed the free dog wood passed out on earth day.
waterfall on the way to little river trail. we took little river to cucumber gap trail to jake's creek trail to make a loop. 5.1 miles i think.
at one point i walked off the trail to get close to the river's edge. the river is full of huge boulders dividing it and small cascades. if anyone ever goes do the look starting with little river trail so you can walk against the flow of the water. it's gorgeous.
as i was walking down hill all the sudden about twenty monarch butterflies and some blue and black butterflies flew up all around me circling and fluttering.
it was like being surrounded by fairies.
a small group remained on the ground. it was breathtaking.
these pictures cannot even come close to depicting the beauty of God's 'little river'.
i can't remember why we followed this mountain stream/cascade up the mountain but it was like our own magical fern gully.
half of the 5 mile hike spent with rocks weighing down someone's pockets. we're not sure why.
hello random boulder of quartz. i've never seen anything like you outside of a museum.
there were so many things i wish i could have captured on my camera. cucumber gap trail was amazing, walking up and down the fingers of the mountain at the a little bit up from the base of the mountain.
i don't know how we're going to go back to hiking in our local park. it's going to seem so lame.
then we drove to the top of the mountain to go to clingman's dome. i highly recommend going close to sunset.
there was a 12 degree drop in temperature between the foot and the top of the mountain and the winds were incredibly strong. i decided being at the top was good enough for me and i was also having some not so silent panic attacks that my precious hiker was going to get blown right off of the mountain.
'then sings my soul, oh Saviour God to Thee, how great Thou art.'
No comments:
Post a Comment