It was time to leave … and this is why …
Run Mui!
On second thought, don’t; you’re not supposed to run from a bear.
Yes, I’m just joshing with you. We had to leave because our vacation was over.
The receipt of this JibJab image from Russ of Travels in Therapy fame was very timely. We were feeling ‘droopy’ because we had just left the campground and were on our way home. Finding this in my email box brought cheer back into our day; thank you Russ. By the way, I exercised my editorial privilege and replaced the big, bad gun in Mui’s hand with a video camera — that’s the only shooting he does :-))))
We were on the road at 9:30a. Check-out from the Tremont Outdoor Resort isn’t until noon, and we would like to have stayed until later in the morning before rolling out. However, with images of last Saturday’s Pigeon Forge traffic snarl still fresh in our minds, we thought it prudent to get through there earlier rather than later in the day. Our strategy paid off; traffic was heavy, but we drove through the area without delay this time.
In fact, our drive was going so smoothly that once we were on I-81N, I asked Mui to give me some time at the wheel. He was a little hesitant at first as I had not yet driven the Phaeton in traffic, but he saw my logic when I pointed out that there has to be a first time and what better place than on a highway that was a reasonably straight shot. My biggest concern was the semis whizzing by, but once behind the wheel, I wasn’t intimated by them. I now also feel comfortable pulling back into traffic from the shoulder, and exiting to a rest stop and maneuvering into a truck parking spot; practicing turns and such will come later.
Mui doesn’t have to worry that I’ll want to take over driving duties full-time,
but it’s good to get some practice behind the wheel.
We pulled into the Virginia Welcome Center in Bristol right around 12:30p. Knowing we had just a short distance to go until we reached our stop for the day, we dallied awhile with lunch, opting to eat at a picnic table nearby instead of scarfing down a quick bite at our dining room table.
Welcome to Virginia, and as the state seal says, “thus always to tyrants.”
the Phaeton has company in the parking lot; a Tiffin Allegro Bus, whose owners
are collecting information about Virginia at the Welcome Center.
We arrived at our destination for the day earlier than we expected. We could have comfortably driven another 100 miles (160 km) before stopping, but decided to keep the reservation we’d made at the Fort Chiswell RV Park. After fueling up at the Flying J just down the street, we pulled into #60, the same 50 Amp FHU site where we spent the night on our way down to the Smokies (post here). This time, we had neighbors — Canadian snowbirds to our left and Virginia bovines in the field to our right.
The Phaeton is hidden behind the 5th wheel in the first row on the far left.
By the time I went for a post-dinner walk, the entire row behind us was occupied.
This time, the cows are more cooperative and come to the fenceline for a photo op.
After we got all set up, I threw a couple of loads in the washer and dryer to reduce the laundry I’d have to do back at the stix & brix. In between loads, we explored the far side of the campground to stretch our legs a bit, and took advantage of the campground’s fast, free wi-fi to surf the web. Our plans for an al fresco dinner were washed out when the rain that had been threatening all day finally started to fall. The initial downpour was short, but returned later and continued through the night.
Scenes from the far side of the Fort Chiswell RV Park — it’s quite bucolic here.
After a restful night of sleep, we were up early to get a head start on the remaining 276 miles (442 km) we needed to cover before putting the Phaeton to bed. It was 9:00a when we pulled out, following even earlier birds that had been streaming out of the campground one after another for the past hour.
It was a chilly 49F (9.5C), and though the skies were overcast, there was no wet stuff falling — yet. So, I asked Mui to give me some more time at the wheel. I must have done a good job of putting him at ease yesterday as this time he readily agreed. I’m starting to get a feel for how the coach handles. I find it is easiest to drive right around 60-62 mph (96-100 km/h), which means I won’t slow us down too much when I do a stint at the wheel during our future travels.
I was at the wheel for only about five minutes before it started to drizzle, and then to rain. It was a reasonably light rain, so I continued to drive until we got to a rest area 30 minutes later. This time, however, vehicles were backed up at the entrance, so while we were waiting to pull ahead, I had Mui take over the wheel. Call me chicken, but I know my limits, and I’m not up to parallel parking between semis and passenger busses.
I was trying to get a picture of the Packard (white car in the left lane),
but it’s travelling much faster than we are.
The rain continued for the rest of the day, making for a messy, yet uneventful drive. We took a couple of rest breaks, had lunch in the coach during one stop, but otherwise had no incentive to stop and smell the roses.
Mui has his amber
shootingdriving glasses on. It’s incredible how much brighter a dreary day seems when you look at it through these glasses. Highly recommended for all drivers.
It was right around 2:30p when we pulled up to Fannon Petroleum to fill ‘er up. After having paid $3.78/gallon with our Flying J Card just yesterday (6¢ off the cash price of $3.84; credit price $3.90), the $4.10/gallon came with a bit of a sticker shock. But it is what it is; and in this area there aren’t any other handy alternatives.
Then it was onto the storage lot. We made short work putting the Phaeton to bed, and were soon on our way to do a bit of grocery shopping before heading to the stix & brix home. We won’t be there long, however, as we have another Phaeton outing scheduled for next weekend.
With the last sightseeing outing of our trip now in the can, it’s time to do a quick review of the campground that has been our home base for seven nights.
When we decided to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), we wanted a nice, quiet campground that would encourage us to relax in between our exploratory trips into the park. After checking out the various campground websites and reading the reviews on the RV Park Reviews site, we settled on the Tremont Outdoor Resort. Conveniently located right outside the Cades Cove entrance of the GSMNP, it fit the bill perfectly.
The resort is conveniently situated to explore the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”
We made our reservation in January, which allowed us to pick what I think is the prime site at Tremont — B34. The only downside to this site is that it’s on a slight incline. Not a big deal; a couple of wood blocks under the passenger side tires solved the problem.
We had a young family tent-camping on the driver’s side the first night we were there; after that, the site remained empty until the night before our departure. The site on the passenger side was empty during the first half of our stay; and even after it was occupied (first by a 5th wheel, and then by the mini Boler), we were never cramped thanks to the orientation of that site. Lots of privacy and space; my kind of site.
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We are delighted with our site — B34 (circled in red on the map).
[Campground map courtesy of the Tremont Outdoor resort website]
Sites B33 (left) and B34; you can see how #33 angles away from our site with a
reasonably wide green space separating the two.
We’d read some comments about traffic noise at the sites overlooking the river. This may well be true for the sites where the river is more like a gentle stream (either side of the bridge crossing the river), but behind our site, the sound of the water as it dashed downriver over small rapids drowned out any traffic noise.
There were also comments about the temporary bridge crossing into the campground that were a bit of a concern. We were told at the time we made the reservation that the new bridge would be completed by April; and it was. Mui had no problems maneuvering the 40-foot (12 m) Phaeton with the toad still hooked up onto the bridge from Scenic Highway 73.
Looking downriver from the bridge towards our site, which is just around the bend on the right.
Before the bend, Little River is quiet; after the bend, it gurgles and churns over small rapids.
(the cabins on the left are part of the koa.)
The sites that overlook the river have a very nice covered deck where one can enjoy the peaceful, yet not-so-quiet Little River. When we arrived, the picnic table was on the deck. After debating placing it elsewhere, we left it there. The table was shaded throughout the day and made a great ‘office’ from which to process photos and write blogs. Of course, we ate almost every meal there as well. I spent so much of my time on the deck that Mui even rigged up an extension cord so I could keep my laptop charged up from the 50 Amp pedestal :-) The over-long site had plenty of room behind the coach. Placing our comfy chairs in that space, we pondered nature and caught up on our reading.
Our Deck and Little River as seen from the bedroom window; you can see why the sound
of the water would have drowned out any traffic noise.
When we made our reservation, we were told that there was no wi-fi; but we were assured that there was a strong cell signal (Verizon). At least that’s what our notes say. The part about the cell signal turned out to be true, but even better, there was wi-fi (perhaps set up sometime between January and April). I don’t know if the signal strength was good everywhere, but the repeater was on the roof of the comfort station right across from us, so we enjoyed smoking-hot connectivity that was plenty good for streaming video.
The camp store/office is at the top of the bridge entering the campground.
The pool is behind the office; the temps were too cold, so we did not indulge.
While we found our site plenty spacious, some of the others did look a little squished together. This could have well been because so many of the campers had spread out in the available space with their chairs, and extra tables, and other camping accoutrements.
Loop C has water and electric only sites that were all but empty during our stay.
Loop A has 30 Amp FHU sites; some of these angled sites are pretty spacious.
This is where most of the egg campers were set up at the end of the week.
The campground website lists the amenities and such, so I’m not going to go into all that. While the $42/night shoulder-season rate is not inexpensive, we were OK with it; especially since our great site encouraged us to spend a lot of time relaxing at the campground between exploratory trips into the GSMNP. Since we were booked for 7 nights, we did get a 10% discount off the base rate. (Monthly rates are available.)
Will we stay at the Tremont Outdoor Resort the next time we’re in the Smokies? Probably not; and it has nothing to do with the campground. We feel that we’ve explored this part of the Smokies pretty well. To get to the yet-to-be-visited parts of the GSMNP would require considerable driving from here. So, next time, we’ll look for a different campground as our home base.
We wanted to make the most of our last day in the Smokies, but we also wanted to enjoy a couple of hours relaxing at the campground. So, we opted for a moderate hike that one of the NPS rangers had recommended and planned to make it a half-and-half day.
We don’t have to drive far into the park to put our plans into play.
The trail in question is maintained by the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, which is located just off a spur on Laurel Creek Road as one heads in the direction of Cades Cove. Tremont is a “non-profit residential environmental education center that provides in-depth experiences through education programs that celebrate ecological and cultural diversity, foster stewardship, and nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.” There was a sign on their board for a wildflower photography class that I would love to have attended, unfortunately I was a week too early :-(
When we arrived at the office/bookstore we almost turned back, because there was a big pile of backpacks near the trailhead. Instead of going off half-cocked, however, we asked what was going on and learned that a group of teenagers were leaving after a week-long in-residence program. As it turns out, we had the trail to ourselves except for one speed-hiker who was on a mission to get to the falls first. When we got there we could understand why he was in such a hurry, but I’m glad we took our time as I’d venture to say that we enjoyed the trail more than he did.
The in-out trail is a mile each way.
stop at the institute for specific directions so you don’t take the wrong trail.
This is not a trail where two people can walk side by side; in a lot of places, it’s little more than a narrow goat-path. Not that it was a problem — I made so many stops to photograph tiny wildflowers along the way that Mui and I weren’t keeping pace anyway. Part of the way, we walked between hedges of mountain laurel in bloom on either side of the trail. Simply gorgeous; and the only place on this trip where we saw the blooms.
A few spots on the trail were muddy, but for the most part the dirt path was dry. Tree roots and rocks required us to pay attention to where we stepped as we hiked up one side of Mill Ridge and then made our way down to the Spruce Flats Falls at the other end. Of course, what went down had to come back up on the return, but it wasn’t a particularly strenuous climb.
OK, I’ll shut up and just let the pictures tell the story of our hike. First some scenes from the trail …
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… then some of the flowers on the trail. (I identified some of them, but if I have the IDs wrong, do chime in with a comment.)
This flowering plant is also known as spoonwood. The name comes the fact that
native Americans used to make their spoons out of it.
Clockwise from top left: yellow trillium; Perfoliate Bellwort; yellow trillium;
and Golden Ragwort.
Top right: Star chickweed; Bottom left: Bettleweed; the rest — pending id.
There were some bugs and crawlies along the way, too. Thankfully, we didn’t see any snakes; it was cooler at this elevation, so maybe that’s why. (I have requests for IDs out; but again, if you know what these critters are, please pipe up.)
Clockwise from top left: caterpillar; beetle — the ID request came back with the following comment: “Somebody in the genus Phyllophaga, but species determinations are tough without male genitalia dissection”; millipede; diurnal firefly — Lucidota Atra.
Of course, the star attraction was Spruce Flats Falls, which consists of a main waterfall and a couple of cataracts, each splashing down into a plunge pool at the base. The main falls are of a type referred to as a fan and are 30 feet (9 m) high. A true gem; all the more so because we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Yeah, the speed-hiker/photographer was there, but he was too busy to pay any attention to us.
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You can see why the upper-tier waterfall is designated as a fan.
After taking a break at the falls to enjoy our snacks, we headed back the way we came. Our goal was to check out a set of cascades somewhere on the Middle Prong Trail. We got directions from the staff at the Institute’s bookstore and drove the three-mile gravel road to the trailhead. We even got on the wide trail and walked about half a mile. But we soon tired of tip-toeing around the rather fresh and odoriferous piles of horse poop. So, we went to plan B — lunch break perched on the boulders overlooking Middle Prong/Little River, followed by a slow drive along the riverbed with frequent stops for photo ops.
We perched on these rocks to have lunch and play.
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Photo ops along Middle Prong/Little River.
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Dog violet — I think — and spider (left); and red clover, a perennial weed.
And my favorite photo from our scenic drive …
Yes, I admit I have thing for silky water. And I’m delighted the Smokies afforded me so
many opportunities to practice shooting water in motion.
It was a little after 3:00p when we returned to the campground. It was much too nice an afternoon to be doing packing-up chores, so we put them off, grabbed our laptops, and made ourselves comfortable in our comfy chairs where we’ve been setting them up by the railing behind the coach. A quiet afternoon, with Mui taking a little time out to check important things like the Phaeton’s tire pressure and fluid levels. A great way to round out our much too short stay in the Smokies. We’ll be back — perhaps not to this same area and campground, but we’ll be back. There’s so much to explore in this great park, and we haven’t even scratched the surface.
I just don’t get it. Honestly, I’ve racked my brain trying to understand why people feel the need to leave their mark by defacing things, but I still don’t get it.
From the “call me for a good time” phone numbers on the doors and walls of public toilets … to the “Jack ♥ Jill” professions of love carved into trees … to the “John Was Here” on whatever date scribblings on whatever surface is available … I just don’t get any of them.
We’ve been traveling for over 30 years now, and we’ve seen graffiti everywhere we’ve gone; in every city and country and continent we’ve visited. Well, OK; we didn’t see any in Antarctica, but that’s a rare exception.
Not once have we been tempted to leave our mark in such an ugly way. In fact, we try to make sure that we leave no more than our footprints behind … ever. Is there some joy in defacing things that we’re missing out on? Are we going to be scarred for life because we’ve neglected to write our names on a wall somewhere? If so; then so be it. We can live without that kind of “ugly” joy.
We came across this Bob Was Here sign the first day that we ventured into the park. It was on the trail behind the John Oliver Place. There were several others scattered around the park as well. You can read the words for yourself (click for a bigger version if necessary).
How sad it is that we even need such signs. Not that they seem to be doing much good; we saw graffiti on the walls of every heritage building we went into — some as new as 2010. There were probably newer ones, but I was so disgusted that I turned away, helpless to do anything about it.
Just some of the graffiti we saw at the Gregg-Cable House and the Lawson Place.
And then there was the cross vine hanging down over the Abrams Falls Trail on the way to the falls; gone by the time we trekked back two hours later. Needless destruction of another sort. But I’ll limit my rant to one topic and save that one for a later time. Unfortunately, we’re bound to encounter more of both as we continue to travel.
After leaving the Cable Mill Area (post here), we headed off to explore the last of the heritage sites along the top of the Cades Cove Loop. Even though there was more traffic by the time we got to these sites, we noticed that few people stopped to check them out. In fact, most just rolled their vehicles to a stop, took a photo, and moved on. Not complaining; we enjoyed having these places to ourselves — especially the Carter Shields Cabin, where later in the day we enjoyed a private picnic.
This post covers sites 15, 16, and 17 on the map scanned from the auto tour booklet.
The Dan Lawson Place (#15 on the map) was our first stop. It is believed that he built the house around 1856 on land he purchased from Peter Cable, his father-in-law. Originally a log house, it was altered by the addition of sawed lumber and expanded over time.
The Dan Lawson Place as seen from outside the snake rail fence.
This property has some features that are considered unusual for that time and place — a brick chimney and a granary (wheat wasn’t grown in the area; and corn was kept in cribs). I suppose one might think of them of symbols of the wealth Lawson acquired over the years. The quality of the interior construction, which is said to be one of the better ones in the park, also speaks to his wealth, and perhaps to the carpentry skills of his father-in-law, who helped Lawson with the construction.
Clockwise from top left: View from the front porch; the inside faces of the logs in
the main room are hewn smooth with an adze; the granary; the view from the
property; the lumber siding on the addition to the original log cabin.
From left to right: the smokehouse; the granary; and the house.
The next property, the Tipton Place (#16 on the map), has a two-story house built after the Civil War by Hamp Tipton, a veteran of the war. For some reason, I didn’t go inside, so I can’t be sure if it was a log cabin converted to a framed house. From the outside it certainly looked like the latter. In 1878, the house was rented to a newcomer who was strongly embraced by the community — a blacksmith (also a carpenter and coffin maker) whose skills supplied “a long needed want.” He added a blacksmith shop onto the back of the house.
The Tipton house, as well as the smokehouse (far left) ,and the corn crib and
cantilever barn (replica) across the road.
McCauley added the blacksmith shop to the house. Behind the structure is an open shed called an apiary or “bee gum stand.” It sheltered the bee hives from the elements, but not from the bears.
The double pen corn crib is larger than the average size seen on pioneer farms.
Built in 1968, this replica cantilever barn is similar to the one that once stood here.
In all honesty, by the time we arrived at the Carter Shields Cabin, we were a bit ‘heritaged out’. That our tummies were starting to grumble probably had something to do with our lack of interest as well. So, we made a quick stop, but didn’t explore the cabin where George Washington “Carter” Shields, a veteran crippled in the Battle of Shiloh, lived for 11 years (1910-1921).
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From all accounts, this site is especially lovely when the dogwoods are blooming.
Oddly enough, after taking the Sparks Lane shortcut from here to hike to another heritage site for a picnic lunch, we changed our plans and returned to this peaceful spot for our midday repast (post here). By then, the cyclist I mentioned in the linked post was camped out behind the cabin. Not wanting to disturb him, we never did go back to the cabin to explore it.
I have one more thing to add about our visit to the heritage sites, but I don’t want to end on a negative note, so I’ll post my rant separately. Hint: it doesn’t have to do with wildlife.
