We arrived at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and found a campsite at
the park’s Smokemont campground on the Southeast side of the park. Often we
reserve ahead, but the Smoky
Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway
campgrounds are currently first-come-first-serve.
Our first full day started
with rain. With no wifi and no cell coverage we headed to Cherokee, a nearby
Indian reservation town. We drove past a statue in front of the Cherokee museum
and Barbara was pretty sure it was one of the Trail of the Whispering Giants – a series of
Native American sculptures throughout the US and Canada sculpted by Peter Wolf
Toth. We saw one of them in Plymouth,
Massachusetts last year. Later
when we stopped, we learned that it was Sequoyah, #63 in the series – sculpted
from one California Sequoia Redwood log.
When the rain seemed to
break, Bill hiked a 6-mile loop from our campground. He had all types of
weather as he hiked: fog, light rain, and sun.
 |
| one of the bridges Bill crossed |
The Smokies get their name
from the bluish haze that clings to the valleys. Most of the hike was more
foggy than hazy, but the full streams were picturesque.
We headed to the visitor
center before dusk to see elk grazing in the meadow.
Campground: Smokemont
Campground in Great Smoky
Mountains National Park
