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October 8-11 2011, my brother, his girlfriend, her parents and I took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They rented a secluded little cabin right outside the eastern boundary of the park. We got there just as the fall colors were starting to peak around 4000 ft. We explored as much as we could in the short time we were there. First thing saturday morning we drove to the Cataloochie area where we explored some historic cabins, saw some Elk herds and did a little 6 mile hike. Next, we hiked 4 miles along Baxter Creek in search of the best waterfall on the eastern side of the Smokies, Mouse Creek falls, while stopping at some of the popular swimming holes, like midnight hole. We arrived back at the cabin, ate chili and cornbread and had a little bonfire.

The next day, we packed up our gear and headed out to a 2-day 16.34 mile loop up and over Mt. Sterling. Here’s a link to the itinerary of the loop,Big Creek Loop. We opted to go the opposite route suggested on the itinerary, hoping to get the 6 mile 4000 ft climb out of the way. It was a pretty challenging climb, but we were glad to get it over with, leaving only downhill hikes for the 10 miles back the next day. Upon arriving at our camping area for the night, Campsite 38, atop Mt. Sterling, we ran across a ranger with a rifle asking us if we had seen any bears. The smokies are known for their abundance of black bears, approx. 1,500 within park boundaries, and while they are normally weary of humans, the ranger informed us one had been stalking hikers and rummaging through the campsite at night searching for food. Not the best thing to hear when you’re about to set up camp, but we tried not to let it bother us. One of the attractions of Mt Sterling is the 350ft fire tower at the top, providing panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. We set up camp, cooked dinner, drank hot chocolate, then went to bed, hoping to not be awaken by a hungry bear. The next day we continued along Mt Sterling Ridge trail and begun our descent down the mountain. As expected, this stretch was much less strenuous than the previous hike up, which made the hike down a breeze. We stopped at a few places around baxter creek trail to explore some fallen rocks, waterfalls and caves along the creek. We got back to the cabin around 5, just in time for a delicious meal and some more bonfire relaxing.

The final day was kind of hectic, there were two areas where we really wanted to go, but they were on the opposite side of the park, Clingmans Dome and Cades Cove. So after checking out at the cabin we started the trek. There aren’t many roads that transverse the Smokies and the ones that do, while scenic, and very slow moving. It took us a couple hours to get up to Clingmans Dome, after a little detour cruise on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Clingmans Dome is a 6,643 foot observation tower, the highest point in the Smokies. Unfortunately after the mile hike to the top, we found it covered in a cloud. So after that was a bust, we continued on the Cades Cove. Cades Cove is an 11 mile loop circling a 6800 acre valley and a very common spot for wildlife viewing. We ended up seeing a couple bears, deer and turkeys. It’s pretty obvious when any wildlife is spotted because every tourist in a 100 mile radius flocks to it with their point and shoots. Thankfully they have rangers present to protect the animals and keep the tourists at a distance. Next time I’ll definitely have to go much earlier to beat the crowds. All in all is was a great trip. The Smokies are one of my favorite areas of the NC mountains and I’m sure it won’t be long before my next visit.