Fauna In The Smokies

We were lucky enough to spot a few wild life in it's natural habitat during our 19-mile drive in the Cade's Cove. To read about wild life and their protective mechanisms is one thing but to see it live in nature is an absolute thrill. Picture above : A Wild Turkey.

A bat in the barn

Centipede on dirt, rocks and dried up branches.

The bear as it climbed down the tree. You could mistake a bear for a tree bark. So perfect is a black bear's camouflaging technique in the mountains. A bear is spotted only when it moves. Do you see the bear on the tree, right in the middle of the picture? We encountered the bears three times. Glad, we were in the comfort of our car during the spotting.

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Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains, TN

Cades Cove looks the same way it probably did centuries ago. A place well preserved. Plain grass lands with patches of wild flowers set against the back drop of mountains is home to beautiful cherry trees and abundant wild life like bears (of course), elks, deers, wild turkeys and more. 

You could drive through the trails or camp at one of the camp sites close by or simply park the car and take a detour like what we did. 

There were two tours, we went on the shorter one and I wanted to skip the longer one. Mahesh insisted we drive through the longer one. Glad we did. That's where we spotted 3 bears and a wild turkey.

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Laurel Falls, Smokies, TN

Not a huge waterfalls, but a fun hike with a less inclined steep. The road is paved and allows for strollers and such. Over all an easy hike up. Beware of bears on the trail. A few ahead of us did see one, we missed it by about 5 to 10 minutes. You may want to read the "What to do if you see a bear" section of the national park website before you head on any of the trails in the park.

The trail, I heard, is paved to allow fire men/women access to the mountain in case of fire. There are a few steep edges and you may want to keep an eye on the young ones at all times. You don't have to remember this tip, this warning is all over the trail.

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Early Settlement, Smoky Mountains, TN

Cades Cove has preserved some of the home sites and the homes of the early settlers. The road tour is mapped in a way to provide access to these homes and the churches. My dreamy self was ready to move in  to write a sequel to "The Little Women", Tennessee Edition. The setting was apt with luscious pastures, barns, and the wooden homes.

The Carters, Olivers, Lawsons and a few more lived in the settlement with appropriate space for blacksmith shop, mill flume (they used water to power a mill), smokehouses, mills, et al. Not too much has changed in the fundamental structure of the fire places and the attics from those times to now. What a view these families woke up to !!!

I was so fascinated by the foundation of the houses, that I had to post a picture for you.

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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN - 2

Picket fences, colorful flowers, wooden bridges and rocks in the way of water are some of those things, I cannot stop myself from photographing. There is no way I would miss the photo-op of a lovely old rackety wooden bridge nestled among the trees. I have teeny-tiny ounces of patience with no real liking to fishing. If I did, this would be a great spot for catching a bass or a trout or even fly-fishing; which I have no idea how some do it.  We found this stream close to a mini-hike on the day we arrived.

Apparently there are many many types of salamanders in the Smoky Mountains. We found one on the rocks by the stream. My threshold to tolerate creepiness and slimy creatures has considerably gone up, thanks to the training my son unknowingly provided. My parents and brothers would be happy/proud to know that I even caught a close-up picture of the salamander for my son.

 

The water was swifter in this part of the stream, so we restrained from getting into the stream. Wonder whether this area is subject to flash floods. You can tell we are a family of risk-averse, can't you?

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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

A lovely wooded cabin in the middle of the mountains nestled in clouds with breath-taking views. The picture above is a view from our cabin. The weather changes constantly every now and then from being muggy and sunny to being cloudy and breezy with plenty of showers in the Summer. An ideal place for family reunions saying that, just because we did so. There's plenty of activities to do for all age groups or you could simply enjoy the view with a cup of smoking hot tea or wine, accompanied by friends and family.

You could very well drive around the mountain, stopping by at vantage points for taking pictures. My kids get utterly bored by this endeavor. They would rather be going on hikes, picking up sticks on the way to ward off any bears they may encounter or simply getting their feet (and much more) wet in the creeks. Much to their dislike we went on a couple of drives up the mountains and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular views.

It's my second trip to the place. Our first trip to the Smokies was in the Fall, many many years ago. A Summer trip to the mountains open up all sorts of outdoor activities and we took the time to enjoy a nice long river rafting. Actually a river float with a little bit of rafting here and there. The level 1 and 2 is pretty easy with little to no adrenalin rush. We wanted the kids' first rafting experience to be a good one. Mountain weather is hard to predict and we were worried it would rain. Our raft rookie guide mentioned he loves a rafting trip in the rains. It did rain and he was so right. I could not take pictures on the raft for obvious reasons, one being you could pretty much fall into the water from the raft and two, you may need your hands for holding and/or using the oar. Some memories are meant to be remembered without any reminder from photographs.

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Back To Work

Quiet mornings, unexpeceted summer showers, mountains amongst the clouds, reading, white water rafting, long hikes, water streams, hot sauna, lots of quick-fix home cooked food, a bit of wild fauna and Mahesh's aunt and cousins/family were part of the vacation. All good things come to an end, so does this vacation. I unpack one set of baggage and re-pack for my business trip to New York.

Watch this space for more on my trips.

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