Beating the Crowds…Sort Of!


Our plan to beat the crowds worked today…sort of!  We left the campground early this morning, but it took us a long time to find the part of the Great Smokey National Park that we wanted to hike in.  The signage was less than impressive and at one point we were following a stream on a single lane gravel track.  Eventually we found the trail head parking and grabbed the last parking spot.  It appeared that lots of other people had the same plan as us to beat the crowds.

Our efforts were rewarded, however.  A reasonably strenuous hike led us past 3 separate waterfalls.  The trail had taken us over 2 miles to the third falls and then decided to drop us down the side of the mountain back to the parking lot in about half a mile.  Hopefully the pictures will do justice to the beauty of the waterfalls.

At the main entrance to the park on Highway 441 we visited a farming museum.  It had original log buildings that would have made up many of the mountain farms in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  Pieces of their equipment were also on display.  What we realized was that life for these people was probably not a lot different than that of the earliest settlers in Grey and Bruce Counties.  They relied upon making use of whatever was available and growing most of their food.  If any surplus was left over it was traded for something that they did not have.  The exception probably was that the land was probably more productive in our area of Ontario.  The old Kepple Township pales in comparison to the stones these people faced.  The downside of this museum is that demonstrations of the way things used to be no longer take place.  Too bad as this always adds to the experience.  Imagine government cutbacks!!!

Tomorrow we are moving onward.   Our route is remaining fluid.  Originally, we were going to go around the bottom of the park but now are going to head off across Highway 441 and eventually towards Nashville.

Distance Traveled = 91 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Grey Squirrel, Red Squirrel, Brown Thrasher, Phoebe, Wild Turkeys, Canada Geese. (You would think we were at home!)

P.S.  Today we figured out that one of the biggest attractions for people to the Cherokee area is not necessarily the Park.  It is river tubing.  While driving back from our hike today virtually every car had multiple tubes strapped precariously to their roofs.  Every other business rented tubes.  As we followed the river, we saw hundreds of them floating slowly along.  Most of the parking areas were not taken up by ‘hikers’ but by ‘tubers’.



Thomas Branch Falls


Indian Creek Falls


Top 1/4 of Juney Whank Falls


Essential Building on every farm

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