Family Reunion, Part II

We spent the last day of our vacation enjoying the great outdoors! We first hiked Clingmans Dome, part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the highest peak in the Smoky Mountains (6643'). It sounded pretty simple: just 1/2 mile paved path from the parking lot to the top of the mountain. First of all, it was about 20 degrees colder there than it was in Gatlinburg. (Luckily, being the wilderness explorers that we are, we had some blankets in the car that the kids could cover up with while we hiked so that they wouldn't freeze to death.) Secondly, from the time you begin the 1/2 mile to the time you reach the top, you gain 400 feet in elevation! I've never worked so hard to walk 1/2 a mile. And poor Ben carried both kids (I helped too--I had the backpacks. Becuase Cat insisted on bringing her backpack which had her own supply of water and toys).



There is a really cool obersevation tower that you can climb up (yes, after the hike up the mountain!) that is 50 feet above the tree line, so you can see pretty far out. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and we couldn't see a whole lot, but it was neat to be up that high!



After Clingmans Dome, we ventured out by ourselves to a place called Cades Cove, another part of the national park, where you can not only see amazing views of the mountains, but also wildlife and original churches, cabins, and other buildings from a settlement that existed there in the late 1800's and early 1900's. We had some fun snapping pictures at the visitors center, took in the mountain views, and even saw several deer.





We decided to continue our adventurous streak for the day and use this road to get home (see sign below.) It was very interesting, and we were glad on several occasions that we were in an SUV (unlike the folks behind us who were in a Dodge Charger). We took it because we were told it was our bset chance to spot a bear, but we didn't see one. Oh well, you never regret anything you do in the name of adventure, right?