Great Smoky Mountains National Park

My season ended Tuesday, and bright and early Wednesday morning, I headed home. I made a slight detour through Great Smoky Mountains National Park and it was well worth it and much needed. A ranger I worked with at CAHA and I had been planning this trip easily since July. She had worked five seasons in the Smokies and she was the perfect trip planner, coordinator, deal-finder, and guide. We stayed in this cute little cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN.
Early Thursday morning, it was raining, so we didn't hit the trail till it had stopped. It was really cloudy and over cast, but it cleared out as we started our hike. It was really cold, especially if you got caught in a windy place. We hiked eight miles, round trip, of the Appalachian Trail to a point called Charlie's Bunion. The colors had just changed a few days before we got there and the mountains were blanketed in greens, yellows, reds, and oranges. It was beautiful.

I'm hiking the AT!!!

The colors were magnificent.

My friend Jen at the sign for the Bunion. Notice the gloves, it was cold.

View from the Bunion.

Thursday night my friend Herbert flew into Knoxville from Texas. All three of us were up early Friday to hike up Mount La Conte, five miles one way on the Alum Cave trail. In the picture below I'm wearing a make-shift hat and scarf made from a fleece jacket. Did I mention it was cold?

Herbert and I at the lodge. They have the date on the wall which I thought was pretty cool.

Jen said once a year they airlift by helicopter all the non-perishable items they will need for the entire season. Three times a week, a llama train brings up the perishables and clean linens for the cabins. We were able to see the llamas before they made their hike down. Jen is feeding them left-over pancakes from breakfast. They seemed to like them. All I could get from them was a perpetual wary look.

We went a little farther to Cliff Top to enjoy the view. The wind there was absolutely biting but the view was well worth it.

We hiked down the mountain and Jen went to have dinner with friends and Herbert and I drove to Clingmans Dome, the highest peak in the park, to watch the sunset. We hiked up to the observation platform and made it in time for the sunset, but wimped out before the sun actually did its setting. It was uncomfortably cold. In our defense, I'd just spent my summer on the beach in the heat and humidity and had no warm clothing and Herbert had just come from Texas. What was cool, however, was looking across the valley from the observation tower, and seeing the peak we had been standing on just a few hours earlier.

Bright and early Saturday, Herbert and I left for Texas. We stopped at the capital in Nashville so I could get my cartwheel in.

We also stopped in Little Rock for the same. It was a high school's homecoming so the folks milling around in the back were there taking pictures.

I'm now back in Houston for a bit, applying for jobs again, and deciding what adventure I'll have this winter. I'm thinking someplace warm...