An Unforgettable Day

We decided to spend a day or two in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mark had spent many a vacation there with his dad and brothers.

After walking a trail in one part of the park, we decided to spend the night at the very popular Cades Cove campground. The next day turned out to be unforgettable.

Unforgettable Day Part 1: Great Smoky Mountains Wildlife

We started on Cades Cove Loop along with everyone else it seemed. In about 20 minutes we came to a group of people pulled over with cameras out. It was the Black Bear paparazzi! Of course, we pulled over because we had been wanting to see a bear in every national forest we stayed in. This bear was minding his business and as (stupid) people went over the fence and started towards him, he turned and went up the hill back into the forest.

I was thrilled! My first black bear sighting in the wild. My pictures were lousy, but he was burned in my memory.

We were not just there for bear sightings. The views were stunning and we stopped often to take pictures. Without fail cars would pull up and the occupants would ask if were taking pictures of a bear.

After a stop at the visitor center, we finished the loop, and during that time came across another bear. Once again my pictures were not clear. I was not going to harass a bear in order to get a closer picture like so many inconsiderate people did.

We finished the loop, ate lunch in the campground parking lot, and started the loop again. We planned to leave the park on a road off the loop road.

It seemed that afternoon is prime viewing time for wildlife. Almost immediately we came across a female wild turkey in a pasture. She walked towards a male with his full plumage on display. It was fun to watch them. Of course, people driving by asked if it was a bear. Our pictures aren’t great because we are still trying to get used to our new cameras and the telephoto lens.

We also saw some deer.

And we saw four more bears! We were the first ones on the scene for one of them. I wish I had taken a picture of the crowd that quickly formed.

Our final bear sighting was about 20-30 feet away. He was the smallest one we saw that day too.

Unforgettable Day Part 2: Tail of the Dragon

The road we took out of the park was not a paved road as it turned out.

Not only did we get to drive on a gorgeous one-way forest road with 10-15 creek crossings, but we came out on the Tail of the Dragon during a weekend event with photographers along the route. We were photographed three times. We felt like celebrities. And were probably the slowest vehicle on the serpentine road that day.

Unforgettable Day Part 3: Return to Campsite 9

We had decided to return to Citico Creek since it was about 2 hours from where we were and we didn’t have any other destinations planned yet. It was Thursday night and if the previous weekend was any indication it was going to be busy. As we drove in and passed occupied campsite after occupied campsite our hopes that our beloved campsite 9 would be available let alone any of them were dwindling. I even decided that we would stay at one of the paid campgrounds in necessary.

Background story

Before our unforgettable day, we spent a week in the southern part of the Cherokee National Forest. Most of that week getting to know Pete and his dog Franklin from NYC. A couple of days into our stay, Pete had pulled into our campsite and asked if he could share it since he had seen/read a review of that particular site. It was a very large site with two firepits, one at each end, so we said sure.

It was already dark as we got closer to campsite 9, Mark said “Wouldn’t it be crazy if Pete was back.” I said he was continuing on with his travels. Driving up to the campsite we saw a vehicle and slowed down on the road. Mark said “I think that’s Pete!’ I said that I didn’t think so as a voice came out of the dark, “It is Pete.” He had arrived about an hour earlier.

What amazing forces were at work to reunite us in the same location three days later despite none of us planning to return. We spent the next four days together sharing meals, campfires, music, and stories.

We will never forget that day. As we will never forget Pete and Franklin.