Today was a Great Smokey Mountains day. We started by driving up to Mingo Falls, which technically isn’t in the National Park. The trail up, included an incredible staircase, but the waterfall was quite nice.
After the falls we headed into the park proper. There was an obligatory stop at Mingus Mills, then a side trip to Clingman’s Dome. The steep trail up to the tower was tough, especially after the stairs to Mingo Falls. The peak was cloudy, and the views, questionable, but the moodiness was cool from a photographic standpoint.
We continue through the park, and decided to head on over to Cades Cove. The road around the cove was crowded, with very little wildlife. I never ceases to amaze me how some people behave. At one of the historic exhibits a father continually shouted at his kids, who were also very loud. We didn’t stick around long after than.
Out of the Cove, we paused for a bit by the river, then headed on into the town of Townsend, such as it is. Actually, we drove through and past Townsend without realizing it. We came back in and found a suitable place to stay, then headed out for dinner.
After dinner it was back to the park for an evening drive through Cades Cove. Unfortunately, it seems that half of Tennessee had the same idea. Traffic was bumper to bumper on the single lane road. There were some total idiots out actually chasing any bear that happened to be spotted.
This completes the planned portion of our trip. Tomorrow, we have no clue where we’ll be.