Smoky Mountains Day 4

Mission Accomplished - I had set a goal of hiking at least 40 miles during this week and I met that today with my sixth and seventh trails for a total of 45 miles covered. The seven trails were Old Sugarlands, Alum Cave, Mount LeConte, Laurel Falls, Abrams Falls, Grotto Falls, and Trillium. My Fitbit says I climbed the equivalent of 790 flights of stairs with the elevation changes. Whew! I'm ready for a vacation. Think I will head home tomorrow. 😊

Today I started at the Log Cabin Pancake House. It is just a short hike across the street from where I am staying. The senior plate of 4 small pancakes, 1 egg, and 2 strips of bacon was well worth the trip.

After breakfast I headed for the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This is a beautiful 11 mile driving trail with multiple trailheads and motor pull off points. There were two focus points today. The first section of trail combined the Grotto Falls and Trillium Gap and was fairly easy to hike.

No bears on this trail but I did come across this young buck. He just basically ignored me as I walked past.

You can see the buttons/spikes so is probably just a yearling.

After about 2 miles the Trilluim Trail joins the Grotto Falls. The falls is a very popular place and there were a lot of people on the trail.

The trail also serves horseback riders.

There were some challenging sections.

As I said, the falls is very popular and it was crowded.

As you can see, the trail proceeds behind the falls and up the next side.

Once I was on the other side it was much more peaceful and very few people. The challenge rating for this section is moderately hard.

At the top of Trillium Gap is a crossroads of connecting trails. I went out onto Brushy Mountain.

You can take the Trillium Gap trail on up to Mount LeConte (the rustic lodge I shared on Tuesday).

I wondered how they got all of the supplies to the top of the mountain. This sign tells how - they use a Llama pack string.

This why they call it Brushy Mountain.

There were some beautiful views out on the point.

This is looking down at Gatlinburg.

On the way back down, I came across this doe crossing the trail.

I also walked through some of the area that was in the fire last year.

You could see new growth beginning to emerge. It is amazing how nature tends to heal itself if not damaged too much.

Well, that is it for this adventure. I hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as I have enjoyed sharing it. Until the next time remember:

"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us." - Anonymous

Smoky Mountains Day 3

When I got up this morning my knees and legs were still complaining a little from yesterday's extreme workout, so I decided to do a couple of easier trails today. The first one was Laurel Falls. This trail's challenge rating is easy and was just what I needed to work out some of the kinks. It is mostly on a paved walkway and climbs just 456 feet in elevation. The round trip distance is 2.5 miles. As you might guess, since it is an easy trail, there were lots of people hiking but still enjoyable.

There are some interesting rock formations along the trail.

A side view of a smaller falls along the way.

The main Laurel Falls is 80 feet high and is named for the mountain laurel that is in the area.

A mountain laurel still in bloom.

The trail offers some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

 Now that I had my warm up hike in it was time to travel to Cades Cove for access to the Abrams Falls trail. Cades Cove is usually heavily congested with cars and today was no different. There are some wonderful meadows and valley views.

The trail head is located in the back corner of the cove area. The trail is 8.5 miles round trip and climbs 1,170 feet in elevation (twice). The trail begins on fairly smooth ground and follows along Abrams Creek.

There are sections with rocks to traverse.

I had to stop to let this little guy go across.

There are several sections with lots of exposed tree roots to work you way through.

The waterfall drops 25 feet over a rocky cliff. There were lots of people at the falls and some were swimming in the cold water.

After resting for a while and watching the swimmers, I headed back to the car.

On the way out of Cades Cove, a bear could be seen playing in the meadow.

An owl was also seen.

So, even on this "EASY" hiking day, I managed to get in 9 miles of trail and climbed the equivalent of 100 flights of steps (per my Fitbit). I am much more rested tonight than I was last night. The length and difficulty of the trail(s) I attempt tomorrow (my last day for hiking) will depend on how loudly my body is complaining in the morning.