Sunday in the Smokies--4/20

It’s Sunday and the Cove is quiet. We pack up early, add water, dump the black and grey tanks, and head for Newfound Gap, across the mountains. But first we have to check out Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. On the way, we are met by antique car upon antique car. When we get to Pigeon Forge we find out why. Everybody motel and t-shirt shop and fudge shop on the road has antique cars parked in front, miles upon miles of them. Given the traffic in April I can’t even imagine what it will be like come July. We move on. Gatlinburg is a little better, but it is a one-street town sitting between the mountain and the river with more motels and t-shirt shops and fudge shops. The last time we were here was 40 years ago, and it was a tourist trap then. Now it looks a little neater, but still unappealing. I talk to Katie to get advice on where to go and she tells me that she and her dad got lunch and fudge and climbed to a waterfall to have a picnic. A cool thing to do. But we keep moving.

We do stop at the Sugarlands Visitor Center, see the movie, buy a book or two and pick up a pamphlet describing the various stops along the Newfound Gap road over the mountain. Along the road we make many stops and recall our exit from the Appalachian Trail in the parking lot along the Gap road many years ago. Sunday brings lots of people out on the road, but everybody seems patient.

We pull into the Smokemont Campground about 1:30 PM. Smokemont is quieter than Cades Cover. There are few people there so we have a wide choice of campsites. We choose one across the road from the river, where we can set our chairs along the river, read our Sunday paper, and listen to the rushing water. But first a hike. We take the Nature Trail. Now wouldn’t you think that a nature trail would be a relatively flat, easy walk? Not this one! We climb and climb and climb and although they say it is only ¾ miles long, it’s a hard ¾ mile. Luckily we have picked up the trail guide, so we can see the story about what we are passing through. Smokemont was a logging camp until the 30’s, so this area was mostly clear cut, so all of the growth is new growth except for one gnarled tree that I imagine felt very lonely when all its companions were carted away. There are rhododendrons and mountain laurel galore, and I imagine it is truly glorious from June through July when they are in bloom.

We check out the special RV section, which is closed off. That has been the case in all of the campgrounds we have been in; some section has been closed off. I assume it is so that they don’t have to clean out the restrooms and empty the trash in those sections. In the RV section, the pads are longer. If we come back here in the summer, we want the 40’s because they are right on the river. We have scarfed up the leftover wood from other campsites, so we have something for a fire. There isn’t anything on the ground; there was lots of wood to be scavenged in Cades Cove campground.

We read the paper by the river and then take a nap. The first time we have done that on this trip. It is cold here so we put on layers, build a fire, and enjoy it until dark, when we go in and eat another late dinner.