Two days in the Great Smoky Mountains
I know, I know… Just a day!?
It might appear too little of a time for this American National Park of 522,419 acres, but life is too short to wait for better opportunities, and if just two days were what I had, I decided to take it in August 2018.
Picture this: endless flourishing nature, warm summer sun, singing birds, brown bears and their cubs, shinny waterfalls, 1,370 km of trails and unpaved roads, FREEDOM.
My friend and I decided to start with a little 4km hike to Laurel Falls, taking us approximately 250m above see level, which let us admire the gorgeous views of the valley. In total, it took us around 2 hours, and, despite the amount of visitors, it was enjoyable. Thanks to the the opening on the Smoky Mountains viewpoint, one can truly appreciate the feeling of serenity and the amount of possibilities this park has to offer.
When the afternoon showed up, we hopped back in our rented Chevy and drove up to the Clingmans dome to appreciate what should have been, a gorgeous sunset (to be continued).
The journey towards the top was totally worth it when a brown bear mom came out of the bushes accompanied by her two cubs. They hesitantly crossed the road and it was adorable!
For the context, the Clingmans Dome is a mountain and its name in Cherokee is Kuwahi or Kuwohi, meaning "mulberry place." At its top has been built in 1959 a 14m observation tower that offers a panoramic view of the mountains.
Unfortunately, after arriving at the 2000m summit, we realized that the sunset would remain invisible. Indeed, the view was completely obstructed by pollution clouds. There was actually a lot of information about the matter up there, and I managed to find an scientific article explaining the whole phenomenon. Click the link below to educate yourself!
Despite the slight disappointment, we walked up to the observation tower and admired the gloomy atmosphere surrounding us and the tree tops. It added character to a supposed to be idyllic sunset, and that remains a strong memory. No matter how much I can research and plan my journeys and travels, there will always be times where nature has decided otherwise and for which I can’t do anything but accept what is and enjoy as much as I can. And that is life right there! A series of surprises leading to choices.
And you know what?
Once back in the car and on our way down to the city for diner, we caught up with the clouds! And as we came out of the fog, a vibrant orange sunset showed up in between the branches, just as we passed a parking spot. So here was my surprise! And a good one! In a way, one could argue, but it was meant to be.
As we parked in Gatlinburg we chose to enjoy our diner at The Melting Pot, a restaurant serving ONLY fondue, in all its forms! We sat in our private booth and ordered the 3 courses: Cheese fondue to start with, meat and vegetables fondue as a main course and chocolate fondue for dessert. Let me emphasize on how FULL our bellies were! But again, it was all worth it!
To end our day, we finally came back to our gorgeous accommodation found on Air BnB: a Safari tent, lost in the middle of the Smoky Mountain’s forest. What a dream to make a little fire and fall asleep, surrounded by the sounds of Nature. And the host Chrissy was absolutely amazing and helpful!
In the morning, we enjoyed our tea on the front porch of our wild tent, facing the trees and listening to the birds before saying goodbye to this dreamy place and hoping in our car to drive towards Cades Cove Loop, the amazing isolated valley and the single most popular destination.
With a classical movie sountrack, we smoothly cruised through the trees shade covered road, in between the homesteads and the scenic views, spotting deers and birds flying on the very blue sky. What a peaceful way to start the day!
