Animals and Waterfalls …

Thursday – 3 miles 5.6 miles of Hiking

• Laurel Falls Hike – 2.6 miles round trip
• Grotto Falls Hike – 3.0 miles round trip

We woke up this morning at 6:30. Who does that while on vacation except to catch a plane? We do when we visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Two years ago I brought my boyfriend to the Park for the first time. At the time, he thought that both my dad and I were completely crazy when we told him our mantra is “dawn and dusk”. Then I took him on the Cade Cove Loop at dawn and he understood.

My boyfriend knew how much my training means to me so he tried to figure out the best time for me to get my 3 miles run in. I told him that as the day goes on I will figure it out. He even suggested that I run on one of the trails we were going on because it was paved and almost 3 miles.

So after I got out of the shower, I started pulling my running gear together when I realized that I was missing the most crucial item … my running shoes! After my run on Tuesday, I didn’t put them in my bag so that they could air out and dry from the sweat. On Wednesday morning, my boyfriend grabbed my bag and I didn’t check the room. I was fuming at myself. All of my prep work to find the best routes were just chucked out of the window. I spent the next few minutes mentally berating myself for my stupidity and then I decided that it wouldn’t ruin our day or our trip. I spent the next 45 minutes (the drive from the hotel to Cades Cove) convincing myself that I was still going to be working my leap with the amount of hiking we were planning.

Once we got to Cades Cove and started the 11 mile Scenic Loop, my anger disappeared and I absorbed the beautiful scenery we were surrounded by. Now what is so special about the Cades Cove Scenic Loop and why must you be there at dawn? Cades Cove is an area of the Park that at one point was the home to many families. The old homesteads are still standing for you to see and walk around. It is an area of the Park that is teaming with wildlife, including wild turkey, deer and black bears. During the warmer months (everything but winter), the best time to see the animals is at dawn and dusk because the weather is cool enough for them

to come down from the mountains to graze. We saw a lot of wild turkey and some younger deer (not fawns or greens horns but still visibly younger). It was really amazing to see all of the animals in the Cove. The scenery that the mountains provided truly lived up to their name. The morning haze lingered for a long time after the sun rose. The effect caused the “smokey” look that the national park is known for.

After an hour of driving the scenic loop, we headed over to the trailhead for Laurel Falls. This hike is 2.6 miles round trip and is considered moderately difficult. It is also a very accessible trail because the trail is paved, which allows people to bring strollers and even motorized scooters. I know that you probably don’t believe me but we actually saw an elderly woman on a motorized scooter

coming down the trail as we were headed up. The actual hike only took us about and hour and a half total. Of course, we spent about 30 minutes at the water fall mostly so that I could take a whole bunch of pictures. Unfortunately, my boyfriend was a little disheartened with this water fall because the tidal pool at the base wasn’t really big enough for him to swim in it and it was also really crowded due to the accessibility of it. I thought that the waterfall was gorgeous especially with all of the mountain laurels blooming. The crowd was definitely detracting from the overall beauty of the waterfall and its surroundings but it is also a must for any first time visitor to the National Park.

Once we got back to the car, we headed back into town to grab some lunch. Oddly enough, there is a Subway right next to the hotel so we were able to eat healthy for several of our meals. While eating our oh-so-delicious sandwiches, we watched the weather to make sure that we wouldn’t get too wet while hiking to Grotto Falls. I am glad we waited to leaved for the hike because as soon as we finished our lunch the sky opened up. Luckily, it didn’t last very long and it wasn’t humid and muggy afterwards.

In the Gatlinburg area, there are actually two scenic motor loops in the National Park. The Cades Cove Loop is near Townsend and is the one we went on this morning. The other loop is the Roaring Fork Loop, which is named after the river that runs parallel to the road. The trailhead for Grotto Falls is located on the Roaring Fork Loop. The hike is 3 miles round trip and is considered moderate in difficulty. Unlike the Laurel Falls Trail, this trail isn’t paved and is therefore not as accessible to everyone. The lack of pavement alone was enough to thrill my boyfriend about the hike. Because we waited the storm out, the trail was empty and when we got to the waterfall it was empty. He was stoked because he was able to go swimming in the tidal pool. Word of warning: the waterfalls in the mountains are usually part of the river that run through the mountains. If you haven’t figured it out yet, this means that the water in the tidal pools is utterly freezing. My boyfriend has a

tendency to forget that fact until after he jumps into the tidal pool. Of course, his reaction always gives me a wonderful fit of laughter so I never remind him. I think we spent about an hour at the Grotto Falls and it was really amazing to just sit there and take in our surroundings. One of the coolest features of this waterfall is also where it gets its name. The Trillium Gap Trail actually continues behind the waterfall and heads up to Mt. LeConte, which is the highest peak within the National Park. You can actually walk behind the waterfall, which is totally cool.

Within 30 minutes of getting to the waterfall, more people started to show up. I finished taking my pictures while my boyfriend dried off and put his shoes back on. We ate a Clif Bar and drank some water before we headed back to the car.

After we got back in the car, we finished driving on the Roaring Fork Motor Loop. Towards the end of the loop is another waterfall known as The Place of A Thousand Drips and it is a roadside cascade. We stopped, of course, so that I could take more pictures. Finally we got back to the hotel. All of the hiking we did today really wore us out and another storm was fast approaching so we called it an early night. We just had leftovers for dinner. I had the other half of my Subway sandwich and my boyfriend had the last two pieces of pizza from last night.