Abrams Falls

Tuesday, 17 April

OK, now that my wildlife encounter rant is out of the way, I return this blog to our regularly scheduled travel reporting!

The plan for the day was to visit the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, a “nonprofit organization formed to preserve and present the heritage of the East Tennessee region.”  Located in Townsend, just down the road from the Tremont Outdoor Resort, it’s within walking distance, but we were carrying too much gear to get there under our own power.

Mui had just parked the car when we noticed that we had company — two bus-loads of school kids.  Oh!  Oh!  Noticing our concern, a staff member from the center told us that they had two busses a day coming in every week morning for the foreseeable future.  “They’ll be gone by 1:00p,” he continued.  OK; so we’ll come back later.  Well, we never made it back!  Instead, we drove into the park and hiked the Abrams Falls Trail, located not far from the Cable Mill Area of the Cades Cove Loop.

Our focus on this trip is the Cades Cove area; just a tiny portion of the GSMNP.
The inset shows where the Abrams Falls Trail is located in relation to the loop.
[maps courtesy of the National Park Service website.]

Designated as moderate, the in-out trail is 2½ miles (4 km) each way.

It was 11:15a when we set out from the trailhead.  Normally, we’re not ones to start hiking this late in the day, but the cool 60F (16C) temp and the long hours of daylight made it quite feasible.  Despite the ups and downs, and the rocks, boulders, and tree roots that made it imperative that we pay attention to where we were stepping, I’d rate the trail easy-to-moderate.  The trail climbs up to 1800 feet (~550 m) at one point, but you’re 200 feet (~ 61 m) below your starting point when you reach the falls.

With glimpses of Abrams Creek through the trees and wildflowers galore along the path, the trail has what we like to call ‘high entertainment value’.  We made so many stops to take pictures and enjoy creek-side snacks that it took us almost three hours to get to the falls.  We missed seeing rhododendrons and mountain laurel in bloom, but perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing as we probably would have doubled our time going in otherwise!  (By comparison, the return hike took a little under two hours.)

Left: Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid — considered rare/endangered in Tennessee.
Right: Crested Dwarf Iris — very common; found growing on wooded hillsides.

The Red-Belted Conk is a ubiquitous shelf fungus that can grow to huge proportions.

Clockwise from the top left: Rhododendron (just blooming); Purple Trillium;
Spicebush; Mountain Laurel (budding); Meadow Beauty; Dog Hobble.
[please correct me if I am wrong on any of these.]

I didn’t mind the tree frog (looks like it’s about to pounce on its lunch).
I didn’t mind the five-lined skink (to the right of the snake in the top right photo).
but I sure could have done without seeing the common water snake.

There were three or four of these log bridges on the trail.
They were easy to cross actually; I’m just hamming it up for the camera :-)))

A boulder in the middle of Abrams Creek makes for a nice spot to have a snack.

Left: Now why can’t I just take a picture from the path like everyone else?
right: this cross vine was hanging down in the middle of the trail; I’m guessing that someone who walked up after us broke it off because it wasn’t there on the hike down — grrrr :-(((

At this uphill portion of the hike (left) we get a glimpse of Abrams Creek through the trees.

No, Mui; you don’t get to go for a dip at the falls.

Located as it is within the Cades Cove Loop, the Abrams Falls Trail is very popular, so we were very pleased (and lucky) that we didn’t encounter very many people while we were hiking.  The falls were similarly near-deserted.  The couple that was enjoying a snack left soon after we arrived; as did the young man who was taking a break from his 48-mile three-day hike.  More power to him.

We made ourselves comfortable on a couple of boulders at the edge of the water and had lunch in view of the falls on the far side.

Though only 20 feet (6 m) high, the volume of water rushing over makes the falls a sight to behold.

A Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly joins us for lunch.

After a while, we moved to the spit of rocks at the base of the falls.  We thought the spray from the rushing, tumbling water wouldn’t allow us to get too close.  But there was no spray whatsoever, so we stuck around to play a bit.  A few other visitors showed up, took photos and left; a family arrived just as we were leaving.

Any closer and we’d be taking a very cold shower.

I was surprised at how many people we saw going up while we were on our way down.  I sure wouldn’t want to be on this trail at dusk.  We made a few stops to take photos, but otherwise maintained a pretty even pace all the way back to the parking lot.

a ‘Silky water’ view from our snack break spot on the return leg of the hike.

Once off the trail, I wanted to stop at one of the heritage sites on the opposite side of the Cades Cove Loop.  So we took Hyatt Lane, one of only two roads with two-way traffic that cuts across the loop.  That detour led to a black bear sighting — this time a sow with her tiny COY (cub of the year).  This was followed by four other sightings; only one of which fit my definition of an encounter — we could see its beady black eyes.  Our total for the day: seven black bears, including the one that was the inspiration for my rant; and another bear we saw high up in a tree, looking down at a man that was standing at its base — I’ll resist the temptation for another rant.

See those eyes; if I can see them, the sighting is an encounter.

The return drive was particularly slow thanks to a couple of wildlife jams on the road ahead of us.  Nope, not for deer.  Nope, not for elk.  Nope, not for bear.  Rather, the traffic jams were all for wild turkeys :-)

Just as we exited the loop road, the rain that had been expected yesterday afternoon finally arrived.  The slow drizzle turned into quite a downpour, making for a slow drive home.  We were in no hurry, so we took our time driving the narrow, curvy roads.  Even as I finish writing this at 10:30p, the rain has not stopped once.  I love the sound of rain on the roof of the motorhome; it lulls me to sleep.  Speaking of which, it’s time to get under the cozy comforter.

A Rant … Feel Free to Skip; but I Hope You Won’t

Tuesday, 17 April

I started out to write about what we did today.

Then I decided to get my not-so-short rant out of the way first.  It has to do with one of the seven black bear encounters we had today — specifically, the one we saw not long after we entered the park.

The picture to the right is the bear in question.  By the time Mui snapped the picture from inside the car, the bear was a mere black dot; I cropped it heavily so you can see that it was indeed a bear.

The sign that Mui’s posing with was at the head of the trail we hiked later in the day.  It warns against one reason why a bear may have to be euthanized as a result of our actions.  You can read the story for yourself in the picture below.  The gist — drawn to food trash left behind by visitors, the bear became habituated and lost its fear of humans.  When it bit a visitor, it had to be killed.

That’s not the only way we might cause a bear’s untimely demise.

You all know that we’re all about wildlife encounters.  For us, an important aspect of such encounters is treating animals with respect and enjoying them while they do what comes naturally.  We do our utmost so as not to cause them undue stress.  Well, the ‘roadside bear jam’ that unfolded before us this morning sure didn’t fit that bill.

First, the vehicles had not pulled off to the side of the road.  They created a traffic hazard for fellow-visitors, and a barrier between the bear and the field it was trying to get to.  Second, one woman — I can only describe her as an I.J.I.O.T — was literally stalking the bear with her camera in hand.  The poor animal was visibly stressed, walking back and forth behind the trees, trying to find a way to cross the road.  Eventually, it managed to do so, galloping at full speed far into the open field, looking back periodically as though to ensure no one was following.

Had we seen any rangers, I would have reported the woman to be sure, but we didn’t see a single one all day and by the time we got to the visitor info station at the head of the loop, no one was on duty.  I had to be satisfied with sending daggers her way when she passed by us to walk to her car.  I couldn’t stop myself from telling her that what she did was “downright stupid,” but I don’t think my words registered.

I realize that the woman was probably just excited to see the bear.  Maybe it was her first bear encounter.  I’ve been there myself, and certainly remember how excited I was when I saw my first bear in the wild.  But her inconsiderate actions not only ruined the sighting for others, but endangered the bear as well.  For had it attacked the woman, the rangers would have had no choice but to euthanize it.

Bears — indeed wildlife in general — did not invite us into their homes.  We invited ourselves.  As such, it is incumbent on us to treat them with respect, and not cause undue harm.

I was also going to do a rant about people hiking trails strewn with rocks, and boulders, and tree roots wearing flip flops, but I think I’ll leave that to another time.

Fauna, Flora, and Water

Monday, 16 April

After relaxing at home on Sunday (post here), we woke up to a warmer day that allowed us to eat breakfast on the deck.  Yay!  Though we were tempted to laze about again, we decided to take an exploratory drive into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, specifically the Cades Cove area.

We’re just two of the millions of people that will be visiting the park this year.
With a  visitor count of 8-10 million, the GSMNP is the most visited national park in the US.

The drive from the Townsend Entrance to Cades Cove is 9 miles (14 km) of two-way, single lane traffic.  At this time of the year, we’re finding that vehicles are few and far between — except in the 11-mile (18) Cades Cove Loop.

The 20 mph (32 km/h) speed limit on the loop — 35 mph [56 km/h] elsewhere — and the curvy single lane road forces even those visitors who would like to whiz through the park to slow down and take it easy.  And if there is a wildlife traffic jam, then all bets are off — you’re not going to get anywhere fast.

But to really enjoy the park, one must stop and get out of the car.  There’s plenty of entertainment along the way — gurgling creeks and rivers; rapids and waterfalls; colorful wild flowers; birds, and bees, and butterflies; deer, elk, wild turkey, and everyone’s favorite — the American black bear.  Add to that the many, many hiking trails and you’re not lacking for things to see and do.

So, slow down we did.  In fact, we made so many stops and spent so much time at each spot that we only had time to see a few of the historic buildings on the Cades Cove Loop.  I’m going to leave the heritage sites for a separate post after we’ve completed exploring all of them, and focus on everything else that made up our day.

Here’s our story in pictures …

Just inside the Townsend entrance to the park, we make our first stop.

these waterfalls are easily viewed from the road; But that wasn’t good enough for us.
Scrambling over the rocks, we found this perfect spot to view the falls.

A short trail just before the tunnel gives us our first glimpse of wild flowers.
top:  Creeping Phlox; Bottom: daisy Fleabane.
[do correct me if I am wrong on any of the flower identifications.]

I was especially intrigued with this flower, which I believe is a Foamflower.

A close encounter with a millipede (aka thousand-legged worm) provides ample entertainment.

a White-tailed deer encounter during our short walk to the John Oliver Place.

Here’s your chance to see the very rare two-headed white-tailed deer (top left).
Just kidding, but the positioning of the two deer couldn’t have been more perfect.
the trio featured here were right next to the path and weren’t fazed in the least
by visitors walking to the john Oliver place.

Left: On the trail from the John Oliver Place to the parking lot.
Right: Mui with his trophy ‘ginormous millipede kill’ — that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The lens needed to capture the wide open expanses has yet to be invented.
this is just a tiny portion of the meadow near the john oliver place.

We were alerted to this American black bear sow by a number of cars parked in
every possible spot along the road.  This bear was in a densely wooded area with lots
of branches and shrubs in the way.  She could have cared less about our presence …

… even though she had a yearling cub (top right) foraging a short distance from where she was ‘pretend-napping’.  The photos I managed to get may not be great, but they’re good enough.
After all, unlike some of the other visitors we witnessed approaching closer than was wise,
I had no desire to test mum’s patience and become bear bait.

You can see wild turkeys just about anywhere in the park.  This one  was one of two
that happened to be  foraging in the wooded area behind the cemetery at the Primitive
Baptist Church, another heritage site on the Cades Cove Loop.

Our second ‘close encounter’ with a black bear was after we exited the Cades Cove Loop.
Foraging for berries in a wooded patch below the road, this young adult was more
cooperative  in terms of providing us with a good photo op.

The ranger on crowd control duty at this bear jam told us that the national
Park service estimates the GSMNP black bear population to be around 1,500.

And on that note, we decided to call it an early day and return home to enjoy our campsite.  Comfy chairs placed near the railing behind the coach, we sat down to read, and in my case, process photos.  I didn’t make any headway :-) … hence the teaser post ;-)

I hope it was worth the wait.