Bears, Bikes, and Backward Helmets...Summer Travels #4

Today's part of our journey will be a familiar place for most people in our area. For some reason people around these parts seem to think that Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN is the only place in the mountains that exists. Since we stayed east for our summer travels we figured it was time the boys experience the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We camped at Cades Cove a few nights. Their first experience on the 11 mile loop was on bikes and it proved to be worth it. We had three bear encounters! Most of the cars we rode around and behind, they missed them! I think this was the most exciting encounter. We stopped at one of the cabins to explore. As we were approaching a lady gave us a heads up that there were two bears eating apples behind the cabin. Turns out, a mom or possibly juvenile and a cub had been in an apple tree knocking down apples. Afterwards, they climbed down and ate their snack.

Our first bear encounter on this trip was actually on the road not long after we entered the park.

There was a cub just walking along side of the road.

While biking the loop, we stopped at most of the primitive building sites and explored.

For some reason...maybe I was a little groggy from the sweat and elevated heart rate from turning pedals up a mountain, but when we went to leave this site I (unknowingly) put my helmet on wrong. My husband found this to be quite the source of entertainment!

Just for the record, I do know how to wear one correctly!

The boys did great with the ride. At one point, Jackson struggled. I mean, he is seven--riding a 26 inch bicycle and pedaling up real mountains. However, he persevered, got a second wind and finished stronger than John and I!

There were lots of turkeys grazing around.

Here was the largest bear we saw. It was walking through a field.

The boys loved climbing into the lofts of the old barns.

If we lived in the cove, this would be the cabin we would want to live in.

The following day, we experienced the trail in a more traditional format. I am pretty sure John has memorized almost every fact from the book at this point. On many occasions on this trip, he engaged us in a game of "Would you rather" using facts from the book. For example: Would you rather be attached by a shark or a rhino? By the end of the trip, I had become a pretty good survivor!

Our destination on this trip was to take this well traveled hiking trail.

A rare occurrence right here...It is very common for Jackson to grab our hand as he is walking. John, well, he is like me. He is not much of a toucher and prefers a nice pat over a tight hug :) On several occasions he walked up to me and put his arm around me as we chatted. I cherished it every time!

This is a much more common site.

We reached our destination.

For some reason, even though the falls were pretty crowded, no one was in the water. I understand the water is cold but we couldn't understand why no one was swimming. SO, after a little investigative work by the man...

the fun was started!

And just for the record, I DID SWIM IN THAT FREEZING WATER, I just don't have a picture to prove it.

On the hike out, John enchanted on lookers as he held a grass snake!

We also made a stop at the old grist meal.

Again, my heart skips a beat when I look up and see this!

Here were some shots of "bath night" at the cove. They do not have showers or even soap in the bathrooms because the sweet scents attract bears. We use our camper shower for storage of our play things so the guys soaked a little of the funk away in the creek. I took the traditional monkey bath with soap!

One evening we attended a program at the park comparing life in the cove to modern life. This gentlemen led the program and was an excellent story teller (as evidenced by the fact Jackson sat and listened to him for an hour!) Afterwards, I noticed Jackson had left my side. I scanned the area and found him chatting with the man. He asked if he could have his picture made with him. I always find it interesting when the boys make connections with adults we interact with. (In the last post if you remember, John made a connection with two men at the old train station).

After further discussing some of the points made during the presentation, the boys and I decided we probably would enjoy living primitive life today. It was hard work for sure, but that has never scared us. The porches of those cabins were full of people chatting/enjoying each others company and all of the structures were a community effort. This is much unlike the seemingly greedy, gluttonous, and independent lives we live today.

After Cades Cove we moved on to Seveirville. We camped at Douglas Dam.

Right behind our camper was this little trail.

A few steps and you were here.

Look how amazing!

They also had a swimming beach that we frequented! We stayed in this area to surprise the boys with a visit to this place.

If you have some Ninja Warrior fans, it is definitely worth going. To be honest, Johnny and I wanted to play but were unwilling to foot the bill! They have adult and child size courses and traditional trampoline park activities. This guy was DETERMINED he was going to conquer the warped wall.