It was sure tough prepping for this trip, but once we were on the road... our thoughts centered on our destination. Which hikes were we going to try? Where were we going to camp? Which areas of the park were we going to explore? Then the storm hit. Visibility on the road was zero at some points. The rain was pelting down so hard that Eli was covering his ears because the noise was too loud. Clara said that the rain on the road looked like smoke, the way the cars in front of us were kicking up the water. We even hydroplaned at one point. Then the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was the perfect sign that we needed to stop and hike to the top of Sharp Top mountain before sunset.
Sharp Top was the one hike that we couldn't do last summer during our trip to Peaks of Otter along the Blue Ridge Parkway, because Eli was still so very young. This was the perfect timing. Eli walked on his own two feet all the way up and all the way down. The hike was a total of 3 miles, with an elevation change of 1340 ft., to the summit, 3875ft. We made it down just as the sun was starting to set. It was the perfect set-up for the trip, after that, ALL of us were excited about getting to SMNP.
After conquering Sharp Top, we were continuing to the campgroup when we heard on the weather band radio about dangerously high winds in the area we were planning to camp. We opted for a hotel that night, somewhere outside Roanoke. The next day was almost like starting fresh. The weather was perfect and everybody was in a good mood. The kids were telling jokes left and right... some funny, some silly, and Eli's were plain nonsensical. Then Lucas and Clara came up with a new game. They assigned point values to the different makes of cars, with Volkswagons being the highest. Then as they saw the different types of cars, they would add up their points. This game continued for our entire trip... and even to this day. Signs are another big draw on roadtrips. This trip we passed a lot of "Blast Zone" signs. Lucas asked "what is a blast zone?" Jason made a joke tying the sign to a cartoon the kids watch by telling him that the blast zone is where red rocket takes off. It was funny. Then i realized that none of the kids were laughing. I turned to look at the kids and said "no comments from the peanut gallery." Long pause... then Lucas looks up and asks "what's a peanut gallery?" Suddenly, I was laughing so hard that my side hurt. I included that little story, because I never want to forget that moment.Our first day in the park, we hiked to Alum Cave Bluffs. It was the longest hike we've attempted with the kids at 4.5 miles. The alum cave bluffs were at an elevation of 4950 ft, with the trail having an elevation change of 1360 ft. What a great hike! The book that I was using as my guide called this hike the epitome of SMNP and it was clear why. Too many favorite moments came from this hike: the log bridge stream crossings, arch rock, the rhododendron forest, and of course, the bluffs and the droplets of water that we would watch falling from the top of the bluffs. Again, Eli made it all the way to the top on his own two feet. He rode on Jason's back going down, though.
Our second day in the park was the day we had set aside to drive around the park. We started off with the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and hiked to Grotto Falls. Grotto Falls is a 30-ft waterfall along a 2.6 mile trail. The best part was that the trail actually went behind the waterfall. Then we drove down the Newfound Gap Road to the North Carolina side of the park, stopping to hike the 1.5 miles to the top of Clingman's Dome (the highest point in the park at 6643 ft). The one thing that I took away from this drive was how the woolly adelgids (a tree parasite) has left the majority of the park looking like a tree cemetery. It was a little depressing. At the southern edge of the park, we walked around Mingus Mill, which typically is a fully functioning mill but was under repair when we were there. We then drove around to the eastern side, Cataloochee Valley, on the hunt for bear and elk. We did finally catch sight of elk, but the bear eluded us.
Our third day in the park was going to be devoted to Cades Cove. On our way, we stopped to hike the 2.6 miles to Laurel Falls (75-ft waterfall). It was beautiful and very loud. Very beautiful. We then made our way to Cades Cove, which to be honest, I didn't really think would be worth the drive, but ended up being more than worth it. It was incredibly interesting, seeing all the old building. The kids, also, loved all the old buildings. I gave the older two each a camera to help engage them (in the end, they would have been totally engaged without the cameras). We camped the night at Cades Cove. It rained on us a little in the night, but by morning, all was dry except for our tents.
We drove to Oak Ridge on our fourth day. Spent the day at the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE). It was a great day, the museum was perfect for the kids, with a lot of interactive tools and displays. There was an entire exhibit on the Manhattan Project, which was personally interesting, having spent four years working at Hanford. Also, any museum that devotes an entire area to not just nuclear energy, but also radioactive waste is a great museum in my mind. After the museum, we drove to Cumberland Gap and camped there. It rained all night. 
We awoke to wet everything on our fifth (and final) day. It continued to rain through breakfast and breaking camp. It finally stopped raining while we were in the visitor center. Then we hiked to the Pinnacles Overlook (2440 ft), where we couldn't see anything. Then we followed in Daniel Boone's footprints to the saddle of Cumberland Gap (1600 ft), America's Gibraltar. Our final hike of the trip was up to tri-state peak (1990 ft), the point where Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia meet. As fantastic and fun as our trip was, this was the perfect culmination of it all. The kids absolutely loved the idea of being in "three states at once". Perfection.
Then it was time to go home. It really was a wonderful trip. I discovered a few things. Mainly that I had nothing to be worried about... the kids were great and enjoyed every bit of the trip. Clara has changed so much from last summer and is suddenly Miss Speedy on the trails. She was always the first one to the top and the first one to the bottom. We can get by with just a mini microwave and a few food items from home. The entire time we were gone, we only ate out once. The kids can actually get along for long periods of time. Aside from Eli wanting a camera when the other two had one, there was hardly any fighting amongst the kids for the whole time, even cramped in the car for the drive.It makes me want to start planning the next trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment