This national park had all we could dream off! It had mountains, which we love, hundreds of miles of trails to hike, lakes and rivers and the Appalachian trail was going through the park as well. With only 3 hours drive from Atlanta it was very convenient as well.
After a later departure from Atlanta then expected, due to several parties and a long cleaning up and closing process of our apartment, we finally rode out of Atlanta on Tuesday evening with the sun over our shoulders. We decided to drive into the night and find a campground along the route and stay there for the night. So when the time came and we got tiered we followed a campground sign and ended up in a really nice place. We pitched up our tent next to the car and went to bed (sleeping bag)!
During our breakfast we studied the map of the smoky mountains to figure out which of the many trails we wanted to do. The "lake shore trail" sounded like a very good way to start our hike.
After packing everything up we drove to a national park information center to gain a better overview and further knowledge about our new home for the next two weeks.
A ranger gave us some information about bears, which we should not worry in the south, as they where more common in the north of the park!
What a feeling when we left our car behind at the end of "the road of no return" (that's the official name, hmmmm). We packed our house/backpack on with everything for the next 12 days. Have you ever thought of how much food you need for 12 days? Well, let me tell you that even if almost everything is in powder form (milk, coffee, soups, sauces etc) you have a lot of volume and don't get me started on the weight... (26.5kg)
To leave civilization behind we had to go through a 200m long dark tunnel. We came out and the light was warm and welcoming. The forest had a wonderful smell. Trees gave us a protection from the sun and the green from the leafs was very calming.
Our legs where fresh and our shoulders still strong to carry the heavy load. The trail was in good condition and we enjoyed our walk. We were probably 1 hour into the hike when Chrisy started to clap her hands. First I thought she wanted to raise the spirits and sing a song. I then quickly realized the reason behind her percussion work. Probably 20m down the hill was a black bear as surprised as we where. As he realized our encounter he ran off into the woods. Wow, what a start into our adventure. We were excited about the fact that we saw an bear and that he didn't try to eat us or all of our food. Actually...., food for 12 days is very heavy... So if he would have eaten some of it, I would have had less to carry...
As we were happy to be on a trail in a beautiful forest our steps were full of energy and joy. It took a couple of hours until we finally saw some part of the lake here on the "lakeshore trail". Our camp for the night was only a little walk away from the lake. After setting up the camp we went to the water. Many butterflies were sitting in the sun on the floor and feeding of something. There are many different species of butterflies in the Smokies. Somehow the purple ones seemed to like Chrisy very much. The favorite spot was on the socks with the smell of a days hike on it. I don't know if butterflies can't smell or if they are some kind of addicts... Or perhaps just suicide candidates of the strange sort.
The campsite for the night was primitive but beautiful, close to the lake and a beautiful stream with cold fresh water to refresh us.
In the night heavy showers came over us. Only the items on the line got wet. Our backpacks on the bear string were in the rain covers and stayed luckily dry.
After an oatmeal breakfast we packed our belongings together and strapped all wet items on the outside of the packs. We looked like walking cloth driers...
We walked a lot that day and we arrived late afternoon at a new camp next to a small creek. We pitched our tent and made dinner. After dinner Chrisy asked me if I wanted to know something. As I didn't have any plans, I was open to listen to her. She asked me if it was possible to have blisters on top of blisters. I considered the thought and asked why she would ask me this. She then showed me why... 76.5 % of her tows had blisters. Most of them were bigger then the tow itself. As some were directly under the nails it looked horrifying. After a long time first aid with blister bandaids and laughing about the amount and size of the blisters we went to bed.
Next morning we had our oatmeal breakfast and did some packing. I was just about to pack something into my backpack when I saw a bear on the trail above us. It was probably 8m above the creek. I started shouting and making some noises by banging tins against each other. When Chrisy saw the bear as well she got the whistle and started whistling. The bear started his decent from the steep hill towards the creek. My hope was that the bear was afraid of water and he wouldn't cross to our side. But the bear was not afraid of the 10cm deep creek. He slowly but surely crossed it and walked towards the tree with our toiletries bags. I shouted over to Chrisy: go, get the camera... She only looked absolutely terrified at me and kept whistling. I had the short idea of taking the 2 backpacks and run over to the bear string to pull them into mid air, so the bear would not be able to reach them. Think about me 1. Running and 2. Turning the back to a bear didn't seem too smart, so I stayed where I was. In the meantime Rudi the Horrible(I thought that was a fitting name for him) had passed the tent. My hope he would go inside and I could have closed the zippers of the tent to trap him, did not work out. He would have "bearly" fit into the tent... I could have left him in there until he would have starved to death. Then I would have had a fluffy fur to put in front of the fire in the evening and use him for cuddling in times that Chrisy wasn't at home...
He now turned towards me and the backpacks. I think there was a little earthquake as my legs were shaken for a little moment. He first passed our bowls with a tiny little bit of the oatmeal left. He licked it, but he wasn't a big fan of cinnamon and he stopped again. He turned back to me. He was now 1m away from the backpacks and me. One of the big rules was to stay together and make noise. The good thing was that Chrisy and I were together.... Well, i was face to face with with the bear and Chrisy was....? I don't know... Hiding far away behind a tree and blowing frantically into the whistle... He now saw my toiletpaper which was lying on a log in a ziplock bag. He bit into the ziplock bag and then it was over... He bit into my Charming super soft toilet paper. I don't understand fn when it comes to the most precious...
I lifted and old mosh 1.5m long log up above my head and threw it 2 hands away from his head. He hasn't made any offensive or aggressive gestures up to this point. When the log had contact with the ground, a deep loud noise made him jump back and run for 4m. Now I charged after him and picked up the log and threw it after him again. He ran for another 5 meters. Now I took stones and threw them at him. And Chrisy was on my side and throwing with rocks as well. She was shouting at the bear and calling the bear names... Poor thing. I've never seen her being so well on target! The bear slowly made his way back on the trail into the direction he came from.
All this took around 15min and we were relieved to see him go.
We packed our gear together which took us a lot less time then the days before and proceeded westwards.
On our further trip we encountered a family of 8 boars which ran away after we saw them. We also saw a white tip deer with it's Bambi on our trail in front of us. We both agreed on the fact that we enjoyed this view better then the bear.
Hiking was hot, but pretty pleasant due to the fact that we were protected by the trees above us from the sun.
We decided to turn around the next day as the blisters didn't get any better.
On day six we returned back to the car. Our feet loved the thought of flip-flops and a shower. We camped at the bottom of an impressive dam which we experienced earlier on after some heavy rainfalls with myst drifting above the forests and the water. This was when we understood why this area was called the "smoky mountains".
In the closeby resort we were able to wash our cloths which was a great change from washing the cloths in the rivers.
In the next days we did day trips to different backcountry camps and encountered beautiful trails. The one day in Glatinsburg felt so wrong that we had to leave after seeing this settlement of candy stores, 3D cinemas, tshirt shops and other crazy entertainment establishments.
We also stayed a night on a ranger campsite (25$) after driving through a motor senic route. Everybody was driving in their car through the park and looked out of the window. There were even a few stupid deers eating right next to the road and giving the motorist a satisfying feeling.
One day we walked to the Abraham falls, which had a beautiful pool and waterfall.
We were the only campers at all the back country camp sites during our time at the park. But we were not alone, as many Mosquitos and long legged spiders joined us during our stays.
We hiked up to clingmans dome, to a shelter to sleep there, a part along the Appalachian trail. We saw many different parts of the park and enjoyed the change of landscape. It was the best decision, as we could reduce the weight for our backpacks and hiking was a lot easier and more enjoyful.
When it was time to leave the Smokies again, we had a good feeling and were thankful for the experience and time we had.
We made our way back towards Atlanta, as I wanted to bring the car in good shape to be able to sell it on craigslist.
Our hosts, Jules and Firoze welcomed us back in Atlanta with open arms...
Please see some of the pictures from our time in the Smoky Mountains by following the below link, most of our pictures are already in Germany, but here are a few from the IPhone:
Smokey Mountains
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