Tennessee Smokies

Over the weekend of September 29th-30th the family went camping in the Great Smoky Mountains. Jim took the day off of work on Friday and we headed out about 2:00pm on our way to the Big Creek campground. Big Creek is in North Carolina but only has 12 sites which require a 100-300 ft hike from the parking lot. When we got to Big Creek it was full so we drove through the park into Tennesse and landed at the large Cosby Campground.

Cosby is a very cool campground set back in the woods from the main road. It has a large parking area for picnickers and another large parking area for hikers. There are many hikes from the park and you can reach the AT with a decent day hike. The larger parking areas were nice because we decided to bring the bikes (Lexie rides in a seat on the back of Jim's bike). There were plenty of sites at Cosby and we got our pick of a few good ones.

We setup camp and relaxed Friday night. On Saturday we got up early and cooked a pancake breakfast then we biked around the campground. After a rest (pulling an extra 30 lbs on the bike was a workout!) we decided to hike to Henwallow Falls and have lunch. Henwallow is a 2.2 mile trail one-way to some scenic falls, however with the lack of rain the trail should have been renamed "Henwallow Trickle". We brought the kid backpack and Pam and Jim swapped Lexie on the way up. Lexie enjoyed the ride and even caught a nap on the hike while Pam and Jim ached their way up the moderate slope toting the extra weight. We got to the "falls" and enjoyed our lunch and some views and then hiked back down. Lexie decided to try the hiking business out but managed to face-plant after tripping on some roots and it was back in the pack for her. All-in-all it was a fun hike and quite a workout!!

At night we setup a nice fire and had smores...Lexie even got some in her hair. On Sunday we cooked a large breakfast to clean out our cooler and drove home via Gatlinburg, Tennessee. If you have not been to Gatlinburg it can be described in one word - CHEESY....no make that two words - CLAUSTROPHOBIC and CHEESY! We stayed long enough to get lunch at a restaurant, have Jim buy a cool leather hat and for Lexie to ride a few rides and play a few games, then we hit the road. Good riddance if you ask me, you only need to see a place like Gatlinburg once.

(Pictures to come)