A Weekend of Firsts

After three and a half years of living on the mountain you would you think that we would have already "seen it all - done it all".  But that's not the case.  We are constantly finding new sights to see, new places to explore. This past weekend was filled with familiar, but new experiences.  

On Saturday we hiked to Spruce Flats Falls.  This gem of a waterfall can be found in the Tremont area of the park.  You drive to the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont and the trailhead is near the parking lot.  We've been hiking for three years and never heard of this waterfall until this year!   You won't find it on any of the trail maps.  It's written about in just a few of the hiking books. It was once written up in Southern Living as one of the best kept secrets in the Smokies.   I'm not sure why it has been kept such a secret because it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls I've seen so far in the Smokies.  The trail to the falls is only a mile long, quite rugged with lots of rocks and roots, but doable for the average hiker.  

After our hike, we headed to Metcalf Bottoms for our customary picnic.  Food tastes really good after hiking a rugged trail!

After our hike we went home to rest and clean up.  On Saturday night we headed to the Smokies game.  Now we have been to a lot of Smokies games but we added a new twist to this outing.  Calhoun's has a new eating area (Calhoun's at the Yard) behind left field for private parties. A couple of times a season they open it up to the general public so we bought a table.  We enjoyed a buffet of grilled chicken, pulled pork barbecue, hotdogs, spinach dip with chips, coleslaw, baked beans, and chocolate chip cookies. Yum!  Then we watched the Smokies destroy Jackson, 13-1!  A good time was had by all.

On Sunday, we headed to Dollywood.  We have season passes so we go two or three times a year, but this trip was special because Dolly was in town!  She was here to perform four benefit concerts for her Imagination Library.  As season pass holders, we were fortunate enough to get tickets for this event. I don't know what I expected, but I was very impressed with her concert.  She sang all her old classics plus a few new songs.  She told great stories about her humble upbringing.  She was full of sass and class and a load of talent.  She played nine different instruments (3 guitars, banjo, dulcimer, recorder, harmonica, piano, and Autoharp!) She sang with and without accompaniment. She joked! She flirted! She testified!  It lasted an hour and a half and we were all sorry when it was over.  She is (still) the real deal.

My favorite song: Little Sparrow (gave me chills)

My favorite story: How she came to write Jolene (her husband Carl was flirting with a girl named Jolene down at the bank.  She told him to quit spending so much time at the bank since they didn't have that much money.  She wrote the song, got a hit, made a lot of money and now she spends more time at the bank than Carl or Jolene!)

My favorite joke: Her grandfather's concern about her look (Grandpa was a Pentecostal preacher and he was concerned with Dolly's rhinestones, make-up and big puffy hair.  He said: " Dolly, you look like a streetwalker!  Don't you want to go to heaven?"  She replied: " Well, of course I do Grandpa, but do I have to look like Hell to get there?"

It was such a fun enjoyable experience.  She ended the show with her signature song, "I Will Always Love You". We will always love her, too. We appreciate the job opportunities she provides for the people of Sevier County (Dollywood, Splash Country, Dixie Stampede, The Dreammore Resort, and now Lumberjack Feud).  And we admire what she does with the Imagination Library (over 60 million books to 750,000 children, over 1600 communities in U.S., Canada, Australia, and expanding). She is quite a remarkable lady who remembers where she came from and is making a difference in the world.

Family Hiking

We are really getting into this hiking thing. During the last week of July, Keith and I logged quite a few miles!  Since I've lost weight and gained endurance I decided it was time to try a few of the more challenging hikes. First up, on Tuesday, was Alum Cave Bluff Trail. We did the trail in autumn a couple of years ago, but I only went as far as Arch Rock, but now it was time to go to the bluff.  It was slightly rainy and very foggy on the trail that day.  Keith kept saying we wouldn't get to enjoy the view, but I wasn't going for the view.  I just wanted to be able to say I had been to the bluff.  It's not a long trip (2.4 miles one way) but it's very steep and rocky. The total elevation change is 1200 feet. You start at 3800 feet and climb up to 5000 feet!  That means the temperature is pleasantly cool in July! We stopped to rest occasionally, but I made it without a problem. And wouldn't you know, the fog dispersed and the sun started shining so we did get to enjoy the view on the way back down.

Arch Rock. Yes, the trail goes through the rock!

Keith in the fog and "Spider-Man" on the wall.

The Bluff is larger than I thought it would be. No photo can capture its massiveness.

The view on the way back down

I have to say it felt like quite an accomplishment for me to get to the bluff so on Wednesday we attempted another new trail - Gabes Mountain Trail to Henwallow Falls. Again, it's not a long trail (4.2 miles round trip), just steep.  It's a steady climb on a narrow trail with lots of rocks and roots.  The last mile is straight down to the falls but well worth the descent. 

Since the area at the bottom of the falls drops off suddenly, it was hard to find a good vantage point for a proper photo.  You can't really tell it from the shot, but Henwallow Falls is 90 feet tall! We had a snack and a good rest before climbing back up and then down the trail.

Jeff arrived for a long weekend and we did two hikes on Thursday. The first was a 5.2 round trip hike on Road Prong Trail. This path connects Chimney Tops Trail to the Appalachian Trail.  We decided to go as far as the two unnamed waterfalls. We soon figured out why they were unnamed!  Nobody hikes this trail (unless they are die-hards who just want to say they've hiked every inch of trail in the Smokies!)

This trail is not wide enough to be called a creek bed.  It's more like a drainage ditch.  It was very rocky and steep and grown over on both sides.  We made it to the first waterfall, but you could barely see it from the trail.  We never made it to the second waterfall because the bridge was down and we didn't feel like crossing through the water.  Jeff hit the nail on the head when he said, "Of all the trails we've been on... this is one."  Not much to say about that trail.  We headed back and had lunch in Gatlinburg.

The widest section of Road Prong Trail.

The unnamed waterfall we couldn't really see.

And the end of the trail, thanks to a washed out bridge.

Bobby was away on a business trip so Jenny joined us in the afternoon.  Our second hike of the day was Trillium Gap Trail to Grotto Falls.  I had several reasons for choosing this one.

1. It's my favorite waterfall in the park.

2. Jenny hadn't hiked it before.

3.  It was the first hike we took three years ago when we first started hiking.

4. I was about to achieve a milestone and I wanted it to happen on this trail.

I love Grotto Falls because it's a relatively easy hike and oh so refreshing!  There is always a slight breeze and the water is so cold that the air temperature is a good 10 degrees cooler there. Grotto is the only waterfall in the park that you can walk behind.

As for reason number 4: I was celebrating because by completing this hike, I logged enough miles to get my 100 mile hiking pin!  It seemed only fitting that I should accomplish that goal on my favorite trail!

I should add that on our previous trip to the mountains, Keith earned his 250 mile pin! 

On Friday, we hiked another trail that was new to all of us, Kephart Prong Trail. 

This one gave me fits!  At 4 miles round trip it's not particularly long. It's wide and not particularly steep.  The weather wasn't really that hot and the view of the river from the trail was quite pleasant.  Sounds easy, right?  Not for me. I hadn't slept well the night before and I didn't really feel that great, but the real problem was the bridges!  Now there are all kinds of bridges on these trails.  Some of them are strong, wide, and sturdy.  Some of them are just half a log with a handrail.  They might be slippery, shaky, narrow, crooked, wet, muddy, or moss-covered.  None of that bothers me much as long as they are close to the water.  If they are higher, I'm in trouble!  You see, I have a chronic inner ear problem and I have a hard time crossing moving water.  I absolutely cannot look down.  Add heighth to that and I can't handle it!

Kephart Prong Trail has 4 high bridges!!  The first one was relatively wide so I creeped across like a very old lady.

The scenery along the way was beautiful. 

We saw the remains of a CCC Camp.

We even saw a wild boar trap.

But then there were more bridges and I just couldn't get over them. But where there's a will, there's a way!

Trust me, that bridge is higher than it looks!

Yes, I took the "wet trail". Actually the water felt great!

The end of the trail for us was Kephart Shelter. If you ever want to take a short hike and camp at a Smoky Mountain Shelter, this might be the trail for you, provided you don't mind the bridges!

We hiked back down the trail and had a picnic by the river.

Then we headed home.

Now that's a bridge I can handle!

Jenny headed home on Friday night.  On Saturday, we decided to do a nice, flat, easy, scenic, nostalgic trail.  We went back to the Little River Trail.  This is where I began my 100 mile journey back in March.  It was quite cool and we covered the 4.4 miles rather quickly.  It is a very peaceful trail. Birds singing, butterflies, a deer, and the flowing river. Magic!

March Hike

August Hike (100 miles later and 40 pounds lighter!)

So that's how our week went.  Now I' m working towards my 250 mile pin. Happy Trails!