Cades Cove, Worth a Return trip?

Posted on June 8, 2014June 8, 2014 by Dusty Roads

After my disappointing experience on the train I wanted to cheer myself back up. The rain had finally passed and the sun had come out. The lovely clouds that form in the valleys had dissipated by the time I retrieved my car and started back to Gatlinburg so I made the return trip through Newfound Gap without lingering. As a result I was nearing the fork to Cades Cove while the sun was just dipping down toward the horizon. Do I take a drive through or not??? I decided that yes, I wanted one more visit.

It was later than my last trip so the shadows were longer in the fields and down right dark in the wooded areas. No bear this time but the deer were very active,

At first I thought this one was a fawn with spots but it was really just the way its winter coat was shedding.

This one is more like I’m used to seeing deer…in the woods, not the open meadows. I think it’s one of my favorite pictures.

This one was taken in the woods right next to the car! It was so dark the picture almost didn’t come out. As it is there’s not much color to be seen.

The males don’t seem as skittish as our local bucks. They are right out by the road.

Glad I stopped.

The View from the Train

Posted on June 7, 2014June 7, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Once I moved to the open air car I had a chance of getting a few pictures. Good thing because I get very grumpy when I can’t take pictures!

I got the train going around a curve

Another of the train going around the curve.

Lake Fontana

The Trestle Bridge

Train going around a curve.

Back of the train coming around the curve. See the little red caboose.

Lots of foliage.

Great Smokey Mountain Railroad

Posted on June 6, 2014June 6, 2014 by Dusty Roads

All Aboard the Nantahala Gorge Excursion train.

The description sounded wonderful. :

Take a ride along side the beautiful Nantahala River on our Nantahala Gorge Excursion! Departing from Bryson City, this four-and-a-half hour excursion carries you 44 miles to the Nantahala Gorge and back again arrving at our Bryson City depot.

The pictures even more attractive.

My trip was longer than 4 1/2 hours. I think it was 6 or 7 hours. I knew it wouldn’t be colorful like this because it was the wrong time of year but I imagined I’d get to see the train either approach the bridge or cross it or even see the bridge after we pulled away. Nope.

Most of the trip was spent watching the grass and tress and bushes pass by. Most of the view of the lake and river was obscured. The opposite side of the train from the river had high banks and shrubs for scenery. Not much to see there either.

I was taking the trip alone so in the infinite wisdom of the ticket gods I was placed in an aisle seat with a family of 7. 2 grandparents, 2 parents and 3 children…all bored. Even the father said it was the most boring scenic train ride he’d ever been on.

I suppose my seat was ok as long as you don’t mind being climbed over by the oldest girl who couldn’t stay in her seat to save her life. Plus being blocked from the window I didn’t have much chance for pictures.

They had a mountain man story teller who was pretty good but he was only in our car for a little while and I found out that as of Memorial Day he would not be on the train anymore because he has his own shop in Byson City.

We also had a singer except every time he started to sing they made a train announcement. I think he actually finished 1 song. They had another girl who came through making balloon animals for the kids. The 3 I was seated with managed to pop or untwist theirs almost before she was out of the car.

Finally we turned around and stopped for lunch. I had purchased one of the boxed lunches so picked it up and made for the picnic tables.

It had been raining all day but there were a few kayakers honing their skills in the rapids…until I pulled out my camera. Then they quit. Things just don’t seem to be going right for me today.

I moved to the open air car hoping to get better views but there really wasn’t much to see. I was glad it was a rainy day. I would have hated to spend the day on this train ride if it had been nice out.

I’m not trying to be a complainer. I love taking the scenic train rides. I think that’s why i was so disappointed. I’ve taken enough of them to know a good ride from a poor one and this was one of the poorest I’ve been on. To be in such a beautiful area and have such lack luster views, well it was quite the let down. No matter how I try to spin it I just can’t recommend it. It really needs some work to make it interesting.

Roaring Fork

Posted on June 5, 2014June 5, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The drive back from the Cataloochee was a challenge. At least I didn’t meet any cars as I wound my way back out the 11 + miles of twisty dirt roads. The GPS gets really mixed up in the mountains. At one point I was on a narrow paved road where the curves turned back on themselves so tightly that the GPS thought I’d stopped moving! But eventually I came out just above Gatlinburg. One minute I had no idea where I was and the next I was looking a the BBQ restaurant where I’d had dinner the night before! What a full day of adventure!

The next morning wasn’t quite as promising. Dark rain clouds were threatening and the weather report placed the possibility of rain at 60%. I decided to take advantage of the diffused lighting to look for some of the waterfalls in the area. Just outside of Gatlinburg center is the Roaring Fork area.

Take a left at the light near the Space Needle then a couple of blocks down you’ll find the sign for Roaring Fork on the right. Brace yourself. It’s another narrow, one lane road. Roaring Fork is known for gushing mountain streams, historic buildings and waterfalls. This is where you find the trailhead for the Trillium Gap Trail and Grotto Falls. The trail passes behind the falls and is said to be a fairly easy hike.

I drove the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail twice trying to find a place to park to get to the Trillium Gap trail but it was packed. The only parking was over 1/2 mile down a hill from the trailhead. Then you had a 1.5 mile hike to get to the falls. I was disappointed. I really wanted to visit Grotto Falls. Everyone talks about it which is probably why there were so many people there even with rain threatening. I just didn’t feel my back would hold up to the hike especially when you added on the extra distance just to get to the trail head from the parking spot. I had hoped visiting before the main tourist season and a rainy day would mean fewer people but apparently not.

That disappointment aside this is a great little road. The stream than follows the road or vice versa is lively and gives many opportunities for photos. It crisscrosses back and forth from left to right and back with little one lane bridges providing passage for the cars.

Near the end of the drive is a waterfall called Place of a Thousand Drips. This is known as a “wet weather” waterfall. During stormy weather this waterfall is said to be dramatic. Since it was only threatening to rain it had only moderate flow when I was there. Another visitor said the area had experienced a very dry spring as well. Even so, the Place of A Thousand Drips is a really nice waterfall.

Views Along the Newfound Gap Road

Posted on June 1, 2014June 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The views along this route are beautiful.

The forest floor was covered in wildflowers. The sky was so blue. Here are just a few more moments captured in time.

I know mountains like these…the mountains of the east. They are older than the Rockies or the Cascades but in some ways no less wild.

Maybe growing up in the middle of the Adirondacks gave me an appreciation for these forested slopes. Or maybe not, maybe they are something everyone appreciates. After all, the Great Smokey Mountain National Park is the most visited National Park of them all.