Smoky Mountain Getaway, August 2021
The Smoky mountains are very important to Rob and me. I have been going up there my whole life and when Rob and I were dating I had to introduce him to them. He fell in love with them and it’s a good thing, because if not I don’t know if we would have gotten married!
This trip was just a quick get out of town and go to the woods kind of trip. We got up early on Wednesday and got on the road, starting at Chick Fil A of course for our sweet tea. Our route takes us through Atlanta and I think this will be the last time that we take that route. The traffic is horrible all hours of the day and night and my nerves just can’t take it.
We made it to Bryson City around 7pm, we went right to Deep Creek Campground and picked our spot. The national park service now requires reservations for camping and Deep Creek didn’t allow for same day reservations online. It wasn’t that way back in May when we were there, so it came as a surprise. The camp office was closed and the campground was not busy at all. Luckily they had a sheet of available spots that we could choose from, we just had to go back in the morning and pay. For whatever reason, the spots were not everything that was open and there really weren’t many that worked for us, but at lest we had a spot.
We put our paper slip on the post and went back into town to get supper. There are a few restaurants in Bryson City, we had planned on just getting something to go but Anthony’s was open and had outdoor seating where we could bring the babies (Bella and Bazil). We were seated then ignored…..We finally had to flag down a server to get them to come take our order. Apparently the hostess never told our server that we were there. We placed our order and after they brought Rob’s out they told me that they were out of what I had ordered. I have really bad luck at restaurants! Finally my second option came out and it was not good. I ate as much as I could, we will not go back there. We had pizza from Nate and Nicks the last time we were in Bryson City and it was really good, we should have just stuck with that! Lesson learned!
We went back to camp and settled in. It was a miserable night. The Atlas served us well when we camped in the freezing cold out west on our last vacation, but here in August it was HOT and we were very uncomfortable. Our air mattress was a little too narrow for the Atlas, it fit well in the Jeep and when we were there in May it was comfortable. In the Atlas in August, not so much!
When we got up and got all of the stuff re situated we went to the office to pay for our stay. After paying we went over to park by the creek and feed the dogs their breakfast. The creek was roaring and the misty morning fog was beautiful and peaceful.
The dogs were fed and we were ready to head on over to Cherokee and up the New Found Gap Rd toward Cades Cove. First stop was to get Rob a coffee and breakfast. Another on the go meal. Our original plan was to go to either Elk Mont or up the Blue Ridge parkway. We decided that since Cades Cove would be crowded on the weekend days we would head there first. We stopped at Elk Mont Campground to see about getting a spot for the night but all of their bathrooms were closed and all that they had were port a potty’s. NOPE I don’t do those! We went on to Cades Cove and secured a camping spot there. After choosing and paying for the spot we headed onto the loop road.
I LOVE Cades Cove, it is a special place. This day it was very busy and the bears were active. They had several park rangers located throughout the park to try to keep traffic moving and people away from the bears. Honestly it seemed like they were making the slowdown worse. But it didn’t matter, we enjoyed the ride. There was a mom and 3 cubs up in a tree right next to the road and luckily right next to a parking area. Of course lots of people were stopped and taking pictures and watching the bears. We always go through at least 2 times, we did the full loop and then went back around to get onto the primitive Rich Mountain Rd to Townsend. It is a long winding up and down the mountain one way dirt road that ends in Townsend, TN. It was beautiful! But we got stuck behind 2 dump trucks! That’s right, 2 dump trucks! I don’t know what they were doing there or how they fit! But they did. It made the drive less enjoyable.
Mountain Laurel, the flowers were all gone except these! They stayed around long enough for me to see them. I love mountain laurel. These were on the Rich Mountain Rd.
Once we got to Townsend we stopped at the Black Bear Café and had a late lunch. We both got the lightly fried trout and it was really good and light. They are a small little restaurant and we were able to sit by the window and keep an eye on the dogs while we ate. We left the sunroof open and it was overcast and not too hot. We did turn the car on for a little bit to run the ac for them. It was nice to have a good sit down meal. After eating we got gas and headed back toward Cades Cove but decided to take the long way and get on the Foothills Parkway for a bit.
We got back to the campground at dark and settled in. It rained all night. and it was another HOT and miserable night in the back of the Atlas.
The next morning we got up and went back into the park. We decided to take the Rich Mountain Road again since we didn’t get to fully enjoy it the day before. It was a good choice! It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the ride and views. At the end of the road we went into Pigeon Forge to get a new air mattress. We couldn’t stand another night falling off the side of the one we brought with us. There is a Walmart and a Chick Fil A in PF. After Rob ran in and got the mattress we did the drive through at Chick Fil A and got teas, next stop gas and back on the road.
The plan was to go to the Blue Ridge Parkway and get a camp spot at “our” campground on Balsam Mountain. The drive is always so beautiful on New Found Gap Road. We did a lot of driving and stopping to look at the overlooks. It was another beautiful day. I love the mountains in Summer. I know most people like to go in the Fall, but to me the mountains are most beautiful in the Summer when everything is green. With the rain it just makes it even more beautiful, all the green looks so lush and the air is soft and feels amazing. It’s a whole different experience in the summer!
We got to the campground and spoke to the camp host, fortunately there is cell service at the top of the mountain and we were able to go online to book our spot. We decided to just do one night and head farther up the Parkway the next day. Balsam Mountain Campground is at the top of the mountain. There are 2 bathroom buildings, in the past they didn’t have lights, they have motion censor lights now (I believe they are on battery). They don’t stay on very long! Good thing we were prepared for no lights and had flashlights. The host told us that bears have been very active in the past few days. We didn’t see any at the campground but we did see one on the road the next day.
In the back of the campground is a little circular drive that takes you to the trail entrance to the campfire circle where they have ranger fireside chats. . Rob and I got married there July 25, 1992. The clearing where the campfire circle is has moved around the area a few times over the years. There are benches there and a campfire circle. It is a special place for us and we always make it a point to go there whenever we are up this way.
The fireside chat area close to the same area where we got married, 29 years ago.
It was so nice to be at the top of the mountain and in the cooler air! We slept much better with the new wider mattress and the cooler temps. It rained all night. Other than having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, it was a nice restful night.
It’s now Saturday and we are ready to go North, we decided to go north of Ashville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We have been up there before but it has been awhile. Before we headed north we went to Maggie Valley to get gas, breakfast and Rob a coffee. A good friend of ours told us about a place to get some sweets so we decided to look for it and head that way. Barber’s Orchard is outside of Maggie Valley in Waynesville, NC. The produce looked amazing and I wish we had a way to store it and bring some home with us! They have a bakery where they sell several apple based sweets. I went in and Rob stayed in the car with the dogs. I got 2 apple cider donuts, an apple muffin (for me), 2 peanut butter cookies (for Rob) and 2 apple turnovers. I tried the donut when we got in the car and OMGOODNESS it was so good! We turned around and went back and Rob went in and got 4 more! The turnovers were not as good but the muffin and cookies were really good. We will make this a regular stop from now on when we are up that way again. And no we didn’t eat them at the same time! They made a good afternoon snack later and breakfast the next morning.
GPS tried to take us a long way around to get back on the parkway but we decided to go back through Maggie Valley. There was some rain coming in and we enjoyed the ride to Waterrock Knob visitor center and trailhead parking area. It’s a great place to look out over the mountains and stop for a picnic. We just did a quick drive through and look and headed on north. Well we didn’t get too far before the Parkway was closed. Tropical Storm Fred headed up this way and dumped a lot of rain and washed out a lot of the area and caused rock slides, which is what closed the parkway.
I had taken over driving at this point so Rob could relax and see some of the views. We got off the parkway on a road that we haven't been on before. I went left, thinking it would take us toward Ashville. We got lost, we like getting lost so that was no big deal. Well we wound up going south and through a lot of area where the floods were. It was really a sad drive, still pretty but you could see where the river had flooded and there were tress and debris all in the water piled up in little “islands” in the middle.
The drive was also frustrating as we were stuck behind slow drivers and no where to pass them. We finally made it to familiar territory and there was construction. So this “detour” took us about 3 hours! When we got out of the construction and had a signal again we found a route back to the Parkway. We found a gas station and then back we went. When we got back to the Parkway we were just south of the Waterrock Knob overlook again so we drove back up and had a picnic lunch. Basically we made a very big circle! There was some weather rolling in and we watched the clouds swallow the mountains.
More sight seeing and more driving before we headed back to Cherokee. We rode over to the visitor center and looked for Elk, there were a lot of them hanging out in the field. We stopped to photograph them and a big bull and young one were showing out for us. It was awesome to watch.
We went to Cherokee and Paul’s Family Restaurant and grabbed dinner to take out. I had trout again and Rob got catfish. We took it to an overlook on the Parkway to eat. It was really good. It was getting late now so we decided to go back to “our” campground and grab a site for the night.
Sunday morning we got up and packed up to get ready to head home. We went to the top of the mountain and walked to the overlook by the picnic area at the top of the mountain. It was another beautiful day and we really didn’t want to go home! We took the long way down the mountain and drove the Heintooga Round Bottom Rd. It’s another primitive one way narrow winding dirt road. We have been on this road many times over the 30 years that we have been together and it’s one of our favorites!
It may not have been the most relaxing trip but it was absolutely beautiful and much needed.
