Day 3 started off raining; we thought this would be the case pretty much all day. We headed towards Caves Cove where we had planned to start our long hike to Rocky Top. But once again, with the forecast the way it was, we opted for a few shorter hikes instead. On the Caves Cove loop, we started off seeing a lot of deer.
Our first stop where we got out of the car was the visitor center; it was wet, but the rain was just stopping. We spoke to a volunteer there who said to do Abrams Falls in the area for it if was to get severe or rain a lot, we would be fine on the trail. She checked the forecast for us again and it didn't look good.
The mill was very scenic - and operational. I asked Rob to go inside of this building so I could take a picture of him through the window. He then started talking and I couldn't understand what he was saying. I finally went in and there was a man in there operating the mill to make cornmeal. He didn't have any power and was using a flashlight to show us everything. Interesting...I think we may have been his first customers of the day - we didn't know he was even in there!
On the way to Abrams Falls, we saw a...coyote?
I was a bit curious about this trail as it was on Backpacker Magazine's top ten deadly trails. Huh? How can that be - this is not that difficult of a hike...much less difficult than the Chimney Tops the day before if you asked me.
We talked about it on the way there and just couldn't figure it out. As we walked, the weather continued to get better and we even were a bit hot.
At the falls, we saw a visitor...our second snake of the trip...ick!
You will see the falls in the background. As for the deadliest trail... It due to the deadly currents in the river - they don't look bad at all from the shore. I guess people are hot and decide to take a dip...or climb on the rocks and fall in. There are posted signs, but people can just be stupid.
Back to the car...we continued along the Cades Cove loop. Loved the bike sign.
It was on the loop that we saw our first bear of the trip. It was fairly small in size; not so much interested in us.
Down the road another mile or so - another bear! This one was a bit larger. Someone estimated that the first one we saw was a one-year old...this one a two-year old. Someone watching it said when it came down out of the tree it was pretty funny as it slipped and broke a branch or two - too bad we didn't see that.
At this point, we were scratching our heads...rain? Really forecasters? This was another beautiful day.
We continued onward towards our next hike. At the trailhead, the parking lot was full, so we continued past it just a bit to park on the side of the road. And what was on the side of the road? A bear and two cubs! In this photo, the cub is at the bottom of the picture and the adult in the upper. The second cub was a bit up on the hillside. So much fun to watch them.
The falls hike was maybe 2.5 miles and a superhighway; probably close to 100 people on this trail. We knew to expect this though.
We ended our day at the Tennessee side visitor center and watched the movie. After, we stayed at the same great hotel again. They had given us a $5 off $20 coupon at the local brewery. When we walked in, everyone had pizza on their tables which seemed strange given the reviews of the restaurant. The waiter came up and told us it was 1/2 off pizza night - well, that was that...one very economical dinner...not nearly enough to use the coupon.
1 comment:
Beautiful nature and lovely shots of the wildlife.
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