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Return to the Smoky Mountains

 

It's been several years since we've visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and we were looking forward to returning to Cades Cove to do some hiking. At the top of the list was the Hannah Mountain Trail. Unfortunately, the road to the trailhead was closed, or at least not in good shape, so I didn't feel comfortable taking it. We'll have to come back again with a high-clearance, 4-wheel drive vehicle! However, we did keep busy exploring other trails on our list. It's been a rainy spring; in addition, a couple of bridges were washed out a while ago and not replaced, so we got our feet wet, but we still had a great time.


The weather was overcast for the first couple of days, then turned bright and sunny for the end of our trip. We did have rain, but it wasn't constant, and although we did have to pack up wet tents, we didn't have to pack them up during rainfall. While we spent most of our time in the Cades Cove and Abrams Creek part of the park, we drove home via Newfound Gap. So many beautiful places in the Smoky Mountains! We had a wonderful time and are looking forward to our next visit. 




Little Bottom Trail - 10.75 miles

Cane Creek Trail - 7.37 miles

Beard Creek Trail - 14.27 miles


Look Rock - 1 mile

While hiking we saw a lot of great views, but it was also fun discovering little, almost hidden things. I found it interesting that while I enjoyed searching for flowers, Wayne pointed out the teeny creatures we passed.







We were lucky to be there while the mountain laurel was blooming; such a beautiful flower! And, believe it not, the variety of mushrooms in the landscape was incredible; we certainly noticed a lot while hiking the trails.


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