Smokey Mountain High

My wife Cori and I spent last week in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina.  Here’s a breakdown of what we did, with some pictures along the way.

Day 1: We left Tallahassee around 8:30 am, stopping to get some grub for the road (including coffee!), and we were away.  Total travel time was about eight hours.  Once we arrived, we were greeted by the sight of this not-too-shabby cabin (especially considering it was free for us–thanks Holland family!).

After getting settled in, we decided to sleep in sleeping bags on the upstairs porch/balcony, to get the full effect.  Crickets, frogs, and a local stream lulled us to sleep each night.  It. Was. Great.

Day 2: We made the 30 minute drive into “town” (if you could call it that) to buy a few groceries.  The only local grocery store is an Ingles (no, that’s not Spanish for English…).  Here’s a look at where we got our groceries, and ran into some hillbillies (who for some reason were just hanging out around the checkout area, and kept making jokes about how I should make Cori pay for the groceries…).

We also spent the evening relaxing, sans TV, since there was not television in the house.  We did try to find some local radio stations, but the only signal we could get was a really twangy local country station, featuring local advertisements for Ingles and “the only locally owned drugstore” Ditmore Drugs (complete with a full description of the over four varieties of cough syrup available).  I managed to do a good amount of reading, and Cori had some fun putting together a puzzle.  Here’s the finished puzzle: note that it’s missing one single piece–and it was very tough to get all those blue sky pieces to the right spot…

Day 3: Groceries in the fridge, we were ready for some sight-seeing, away from the guffawing of the local yocals.  We drove up the Cherohala Skyway–over 40 miles of scenic highway, over a mile high in a few places.  There were some decent hiking trails scattered at intervals near the skyway, and near the end, just off the road a ways, there was a really pretty waterfall.  Here are some of the better shots from our dinky disposable camera.

Day 4: After our day of driving, we decided to hang around and do some hiking up the ridge near the house.  We went up what I guess was an old logging road, with lots of fallen trees and washout ruts up along the trail.  We hiked for about an hour before we reached the end of the road, where it abruptly terminated at the top of a big hill.  It was a nice hike, and Cori got a chance to pull out her Palm Treo to check on the status of Hurricane/Storm Hannah (which was nearing the coast of South Carolina about this time).  We also explored some rabbit trails that intersected the logging trail, and made a good afternoon of hiking.  After our little hiking expedition we spent the evening roasting hot dogs and marshmallows (unfortunately none of these pictures turned out–thanks a lot Kodak for a nearly worthless $12 disposable camera…).

Day 5: Cori had a hankering to do some swimming, but I was not up for a dip in the (comparatively) frigid seventy degree waters.  So we managed a compromise and went canoeing in the nearby Lake Santeetlah.  We rented a canoe from a local bait and tackle/small boat rental shop, where the owner told us in confidence that he kept pet bats in the upper cabinents, and he fed them left over crickets.  So.  This little weirdness aside, this was maybe my favorite day of our trip.  The lake itself is a true mountain lake, with crests of hills and mountains rising all around it.  Cori and I both grew up near lakes, and we both really like canoeing, so we spent a fun afternoon out on the water.  Our pictures don’t do the lake full justice, but here’s what we got:

Day 6: On our last full day in the Smokey Mountains we went hiking in Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.  This was kind of more-of-the-same as far as things we saw, but it was still a really pretty setting to be outdoors in.  Some of the trees in this area were really big, and I don’t know if you can get a sense of the scale from the picture, but it really was a great place to see.

Day 7: After a full week in “God’s country” we packed up and headed back home.  Our drive back to Tallahassee was a little sad, because we had such a good time, but it was good to be back home.  We recommend a visit to the Smokey Mountains to anyone, and if you can’t do that, then get outside where ever you are (and for all you Tallahassee residents, check out some of the many local parks and wilderness areas…).

We’re baaaaack…

Although this post has absolutely nothing to do with dinosaurs, I couldn’t resist using this image.  Anyway, the wife and I spent the last week or so in North Carolina in the Smokey Mountains.  It was a great trip, very enjoyable, very relaxing, and I have lots of stuff to write about for the next few days.  Because we forgot our digital camera at home, we had to pick up a few disposable cameras to take pictures, so I’ll post pics as soon as I can.  As a teaser, I’ll tell you some of the things we did: we went hiking at Joyce Kilmer Park (fittingly named after the guy who wrote the poem “Trees”), we drove along the Cherohala Skyway (over a mile above sea level in a few places), canoed on Lake Santeetlah (and the second “t” is silent by the way), paid over $50 for two questionable souvenier tee-shirts, we were crowded along the narrow twisty mountain roads by locals, were accosted by some scary hillbillies, put together 499 pieces of a 500 piece puzzle (one was missing!), fell asleep each night listening to the sounds of crickets and a nearby stream, roasted lots of s’mores, and much more…  Check back soon for pics and some fun stories.