Thursday was cold in the Great Smoky Mountains. We stopped at pull offs on our way up to and down from Clingmans Dome. Above is a shot of Chimney tops which burned in Fall of 2016. The main trail had recently opened but I don't think it is one to be attempted with a toddler in tow. I love how the morning sun touches the tops of the mountains as it rises. There were many views with vast rolling mountains and valleys right off of the Newfound Gap road. We made the half mile steep trek up to Clingman's Dome even though it was closed for repairs. Our son at this point had had enough vacation and refused to to hike up or down so my husband had to carry him both up and down on his shoulders.. No amount of bribery or pleading could make him take a single step.. This was very unusual for him. The views from the parking lot were best although I am sure had the dome actually been open the views would have been magnificent. Lighting was terrible when we arrived at the dome so I won't share my failed attempt at getting a decent shot of the actual dome. Views along the hike were nice I had thought about trying to hike to Andrew's Bald but it was too cold. Once we finished up with photographing the Look outs we made our way over to the Look Rock Tower. Along the way we stopped by the river leading in to Cades Cove to photograph a small waterfall. There was a small sign with a train on it that explained that at one time there was a logging railroad near by which we learned even more about at the Little River Railroad museum in Townsend, Tennessee. We had to turn and drive through Townsend to get to the Look Rock Tower. Look Rock Tower is one of the few locations at which the Great Smoky Mountain National Park has a webcam. The tower appeared to have a weird space ship shape with ramps leading up to it like Clingman's Dome. I was glad that it wasn't like our fire towers here in New York, (you know shaky stairs and ladders)! It had some interesting views although some were blocked by trees taller than the tower. This hike I did manage to con our son into doing. The ramps were his favorite part of course. That concluded our Thursday other than an unsuccessful attempt to find a playground for little man. Friday I had planned to go to Dollywood if I could have found discount tickets. I was unable to find any for that time frame. I had been really hoping to go because there was little to no risk in running into one of biggest triggers for my seizures. Most amusement parks and fairs have flashing lights. Although ticket prices are high you could do a lot more in Dollywood for your money than at the outside attractions but the fact your have to pay (a lot) extra to park your car and you have to purchase your food there, it was way more than we could afford. So close yet so far away, I was really disappointed. So we tried to get to Laurel Falls early but again got out later than we planned the parking was again over flowed. We decided to give it a try anyway but little man sat right down on the ground and refused to budge he wanted a playground! It took a while but I managed to find one. It was occupied by a preschool class. We joined in anyway it was a pretty neat playground. He sat forever in the merry go round with a huge grin on his face while my husband tried to rack his mind around the fact that his "playground" is different from our son's concept of the term. He even got to see a policeman with his dog and a fire truck. After a while we decided to head over to the "Old Mill" for lunch but we couldn't find a space to park. Disappointment yet again! You can park next to the mill at "Patriot Park" (not a playground type park) and take a trolley to get to Dollywood from there hence no parking! We drove back out to Townsend where we visited the Little River Railroad Museum before lunch which is free of charge but donations are welcome. Even though there were no trains to ride the boys were both pretty excited. An old water tower and logging locomotive greet you outside. Inside was a lot to read as well as a couple of bells from the logging locomotive, some artifacts and models. They had a small gift shop where there was a mat on the floor with tracks for kids to try out the merchandise on.. This kept our son busy for quite some time while my husband chatted with the owner. Eventually we picked out and paid for a Christmas present and set out for food. We settled for a diner/store called Dixie's and the the food was fantastic! Once fueled up little man said he was ready to hike! Remembering that we saw a group of bears briefly behind the John Oliver Cabin I suggested hiking that trail! The problem this time was that our son was asleep last time, this time he was awake enough to fall deeply in love with this cabin. He afforded me the opportunity to get some great photos of him. Once inside he proclaimed, "Mama this is my home!" Evidently the kitchen according to him was located under the stairs. I had a hard time getting him to leave the cabin. My husband hiked in a short ways but saw no sign of bears. We tried to short cut around through Cades Cove and kept getting caught in traffic jams. One was so long that I got out of the car, put our son on my shoulders and walked a mile or two to try to find out what the heck was going on! It would have been a nice walk had it not been for all the exhaust fumes. Turns out it was a Bear Jam, Mama and two cubs foraging acorns.. I let my son play in a cabin or spring house next to the hill side while I tried to photograph the bears with my 400mm lens. All the while one eye on the cabin and one on the bears. Lots of other people were there so safety in numbers right. Soon my son had company of new friends and they had fun playing in the cabin. Park Rangers finally showed up and got traffic moving but my husband couldn't stop to pick us up. He parked about half a mile up the road and came down to join us. We shot for a long while and as mama who didn't seem to care about our presence came slowly down the hill I decided she was getting too close and it was time to go. Our son was happy to go despite having had other kids to play with he didn't really want anything to do with the bears! It was a good ending to the vacation as one of my hopes was to be able to produce a clear bear picture and capture elk too! Oh and Happy New Year everyone!
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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