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Not Bad if I Say So Myself!Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, North Carolina
Did I mention this is a stunning park! I can certainly understand why it is the most visited park in the system, however I am very glad that we got here before the travel season officially starts (on Memorial Day).
One thing we like to do when we get to a big park, is find one of the lesser known, and lesser traveled sections and explore some there first. We did that here by going over to the Deep Creek area. To get there, you have to exit the park's main road and then drive about 20 miles west from Cherokee down to Bryson City. There you follow the signs to Deep Cove Campground - I'm not even sure the road has a number. Then you go past the campground to the trailhead parking lot.
We were interested in taking the Three Falls Hike - a relatively short and easy hike. It winds up a ridge and back down with about 600 feet elevation gain over 2.4 miles. For us it was about the same as a walk around the block at home, although much prettier and more interesting. We
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Starting out on our 3 Falls Hike walked through dense hardwood forests of hickory and oak plus dozens of other trees that I don't know how to identify (yet). And there were occasional patches of white flowers that I also can't identify but, from what I've read, might be a type of azalea or rhododendron, which are blooming now.
The most exciting sights, though, were the waterfalls, which, it seems are just about around every corner. As I mentioned yesterday, the combination of lots of elevation changes, over short distances, and plenty of rainfall (almost as much as the Washington/Oregon coast), produces waterfalls everywhere. I don't know how many creeks we walked next to, but there were several and we watched lots of gurgling water go over rounded rocks and boulders.
The first waterfall we came to was Juney Whank Falls (there is no straight story on how it got its name). This fall isn't huge, but there is a footbridge at the bottom of it, so you can see it up close. No amount of writing, or even pictures though, can capture the sounds and smells of a waterfall. Like the pounding surf, there is something soothing to the white noise of rushing water.
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Biodiversity Plus the ions! The crashing of water molecules into each other produces ionized spray (electrically charged). And it is a fact that our bodies can sense those ions, reacting to them positively (pun intended). It does produce a very pleasant sensation. I wish we had more water out west so we could experience more of these things.
After another mile of hiking, up and over the ridge, we descended down to Deep Creek once again and ambled next to it for a while. As we moved on we could hear the roar of another waterfall. It turned out that there were several of them, coming from a couple different creeks where they were merging. One of them, Indian Creek Falls, is one of the most gorgeous water falls I've seen. Maybe just 50' of falling water, it cascades over a rock face and into a deep pool which quickly absorbs the chaos to produce a tranquil finish. Joan and I stood there for quite a few minutes in awe of the sight. We were interrupted after a while by another couple.
Moving on down the trail, we saw wildflowers in bloom along the shores of the creek
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Even Includes Joan and just before we got back to the parking lot, we saw Tom Branch Falls. This one was taller than the others, but seemed to have less water to it. And there were several places along the rocks where it spilled over into a frothy white spray.
Exhilarated by the hike, but a little tired, we went back to the trailer, fixed lunch, and took a nap. I woke up around 4:30 and roused Joan with the idea of driving up part of the main park road to see what views were available. She liked that idea, so we bundled the dogs and our cameras into the car and drove up the Newfound Gap Road (the main road through the park, also known as US 441). I have to remember that a 'gap' out here is what we call a 'pass' out west.
There were several overlooks on the road up to the Gap and we stopped at all of them. From up above you can see the magnificence of these mountains. A lot of the old growth forests were cut down a century ago for lumber and pulp, but a few coves still remain. And there is
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Juney Whanks Falls second growth forest filling in the gap. Those trees aren't as tall as the original ones, at least not yet.
You can also see the 'smoke' that gives these mountains their names. Settling in the valleys there is a bluish-gray light cloud. The trees make this stuff, much like the redwoods create the mists and clouds at Redwoods Park. They transpire a chemical called terpene which reacts with other elements in the air to form the bluish cloud. After reaching the summit, we returned home, relaxed watching our own creek behind the trailer, and prepared dinner.
Oh, and I have to give Dustin and Sarah Adams a shout out. Last night we grilled the pork chops you gave us and the night before that, it was the sweet BBQ brats. They were terrific - among the best pork meals we've ever had. We will be heading back to their place to get some more.
But what a great first day in our last park! We saw it both up-close on our hikes, and from the grand view atop the mountains. This is going to be a fun park! (17.1.72)
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onebag
Kate Mark
Amazing
I like your dog's name. :)