*as published in North Canton Living Magazine
After weeks of sunshine and sand, I turned inland to cross North Carolina. I meandered through the state visiting family aiming for Great Smoky Mountain National Park. As a handicapped, single older woman with a sudden lifestyle change, I decided to camp my way across the US. My campervan Wilbur and I were approaching week five of travel and were looking forward to a week in the mountains. Little did we know the weather would turn wickedly colder and drop to freezing. But I jump ahead . . .
When I made my reservations for early November at the Cades Cove Campground in the Smokies, my research indicated average mild temperatures and post-season leaf turning. Perfect. I was still in pandemic mode and I knew the park drew leaf peepers. I want to avoid crowds. But the leaves decided to delay their turning this fall and were in full color when I arrived. With those magnificent golds and reds, so came the buses and carloads of leaf peepers who drive erratically with little regard to surrounding traffic. So I had to give my plans a revamp. What do you do when your plans go awry?
I approached an older Park Ranger and posed my questions. Where are the best trails for disabled hiking? How do you avoid crowds? The advice I received was a recommendation for several trails with little elevation change and easier access. What I learned loud and clear is there is no good time to avoid crowds. But if you want to go, try to go early – like before the sun rises.
So early I went. At 6:30 am I entered the driving loop of Cades Cove. Already I was five cars deep and moving slowly. Along the route were groups of photographers gathered around their cameras peering through the mist and fog. I was only a few miles in before I spotted my first large group of tourists parked along the road and gathered in a distant field. I slowed to ask the park volunteer about the crowd and she pointed out the three fuzzy lumps in a very distant tree. A mother black bear and her two cubs sleeping. I drove the loop early every day for three days and spotted bears each time in a distant tree. I didn’t stop due to limited parking. Fine with me because mama bears can be twitchy.
Regardless, I did stop at the cabins left behind by the early settlers where I found fewer people. I explored the cemetery behind the Primitive Baptist Church. The tombstones marking family names are reflected in the inexpensive Cades Cove guidebook. I watched deer and wild turkey graze in deep pastures dotted with persimmon trees. The smoke clung to the top of the mountain range and the trees were ablaze with color.
The most exciting part of my week was my trip up and over Rich Mountain. Partway along Cades Cove is a one-lane dirt road. Blink and will miss it. You do not need a four-wheel drive vehicle as Wilbur handled the road excellently. The twists and turns and steep colorful views were breathtaking. I found very few tourists along this route and I could take my time to stop and appreciate the beauty.
One sunny day I decided to hike a nature trail in the Elkmont area. The trail is short and the elevation change is manageable. While I encourage you to try if you have mobility issues, this is not an ADA trail. The trail is located near the Elkmont campground. With thirteen marked stops along the trail, the guide takes you through a journey of identifying how to read the natural landscape. You look for abandoned rail beds, trees, and plants. The trail granted me a different perspective on this second-growth forest and how nature reclaims its own.
A word of caution – not about bears – but about directions and maps. Real paper maps are crucial in the park. I had no cell coverage. Not an inkling. I was properly digitally detoxed by the end. But, wrong turns can be difficult. On a particularly beautiful day, I took a left instead of a right and found myself in downtown Gatlinburg on a Saturday afternoon. Think Time’s Square on New Year’s Eve. I crawled in traffic for two hours to go a half-mile before I could leave. Yes, Gatlinburg is beautiful and I will someday explore it post-pandemic.
On my last morning, I packed up as the night temperatures dipped into freezing. I value my toes and while Wilbur is great in colder weather, I am not. Looking at the bright blue sky beyond the graceful curve of the mountains, I pointed Wilbur for warmer climates.
What I Learned
The cantilevered barn in Cades Cove is seriously the coolest thing this nerd has seen. I am still scratching my head at the effort to build it.
The Cherokee Indians lived in this area for thousands of years before being forcibly removed by the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
You can wear double socks, long underwear, a hat, and mittens to bed to keep warm.
TIPS FOR VISITING
If you are not a camper, nearby Townsend, Gatlinburg, Pidgeon Forge, and Cherokee offer a range of accommodations from house rentals to hotels. Full-service campgrounds dot all these communities.
National Park Service campgrounds within the park are limited in service. There are no electrical hookups or showers available. There are well-maintained flush toilets. Be careful where you reserve, larger trailers with generators could be parked next to a tent. Those generators can be loud. For reservations, go to recreation.gov. Book early.
Keep your distance from wild animals. For their sake and yours.