6/22/09 - Great Smokey Mountain National Park

We headed towards the Great Smokey Mountain National Park to see the sites we really came to this area to see. I had thought while planning that I might take the kids to Dollywood or to Dollywood's Splash Country waterpark, but it was so expensive, so hot, and there was rain in the forcast. So we (and by "we" I mean "I" since the kids don't even know what Dollywood is) decided to spend the rest of the day driving through the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and walking the 1.2 mile paved trail to see Laurel Falls.

This is what it looks like when you go through a tunnel, hold up your camera (not looking through it so you have no idea what it focuses on) and don't check your settings at all before hitting the shutter. Kind of a neat picture, I think.


The view is just breathtaking.


We got out and started along the trail to see Laurel Falls which is the most popular waterfall to see at the park. It is 1.2 miles each way and is listed as moderate even though it's a paved trail. We found out soon enough why it is rated moderate, though - it's a pretty steep climb and the path is against the mountainside on one side and is a steep drop off on the other. I made the girls walk right in front of me against the mountain as we were climbing and Matthew was in the stroller. Any time people came around us from behind or past us coming back down, we came to a complete stop against the mountain so that I didn't have to worry about anyone accidentally falling off the cliff.

Here's Becky posing for a picture that Hannah was taking:


We passed the .5 mile marker when several really loud peals of thunder chased us back down and it started to rain. The tree canopy kept us pretty dry but by the time we got back to the car it was really pouring, so we headed back out of the park. I had visions of our tent being washed down the slope by a mud and rock landslide so I wanted to get back to make sure everything was ok. It went a lot faster going down than it did going up!


The rain didn't last long, so I stopped on the way out to snap this photo. I love how you can see the mist rising from the mountain in this one.


I will admit that I was feeling a little defeated by the 2nd night in Newport. The heat and humidity was just so stifling and it had been several days of this heat without a break. The heat was bad enough, but in Newport, you could literally see the moisture hanging in the air and the leaves on the trees were actually dripping water, even though it never did actually rain at the campground.

I couldn't even get my campfire to stay lit and that was like the straw that broke the camel's back for me and I called my mom to whine. (blush!)