Vacation Day 8: Over the river and through the gap to Abrams Falls


Somehow our clocks are out of sync.  Either I sleep in or Rich does.  Today was Rich’s turn to sleep in.  We got breakfast and got on the road to Cades Cove again today.  We are going to walk the Abrams Falls trail.  Since the entire trail there and back is 5 miles, this is our only hike of the day.Our first wildlife sighting for the day was a pair of wild turkeys by the side of the road on our way to Cades Cove.  I almost missed them.  You wouldn’t think that black, white and red blends with the grass and trees.  But it does!

This trail starts about midway of the loop, so we have to get through the single lane road with all of the slow drivers.  When we reach the Townsend turnoff, it begins to rain.  It’s coming down pretty good, too.  That’s fine.  We have raincoats in our packs.  Rain is just one of those things you put up with when you hike.

The rain and difference between the warm and cold causes the smoke on the mountains to be more intense.  As we round the corner to John Oliver’s homestead, we can see the mountains to the south of the park with a wreath of smoke on them.  People are pulling off the road in this area.  We decide to pull off and get some pictures as well.  To the right of us, we can see the smoke rising from the ridge behind the homestead.  That ridge is fairly close to us.  We take pictures of the farther mountains also.  This is the best example of the smoke rising that we’ve seen so far.

We start back down the loop.  Just after we get past the churches and Elijah Oliver’s homestead, we run into a long line of traffic.  It’s hard to see what the holdup is.  Then it becomes apparent.  There is a truck pulling a trailer filled with people.  It’s a hay ride in the rain!

We inch along until we finally get to the Abrams Falls turn off.  We pull into the parking lot and Rich asks me if that’s a dog.  I don’t see anything so I can say.  On the far side of the lot, there is a coyote walking the edge of the grass toward the path.  He is pretty big, but definitely a coyote.  Rich snaps a couple of good pictures before the coyote heads into the woods and down the trail.

We pull on our raincoats and put on our camelbaks.  With hiking sticks in hand, we head down the trail.  We cross a small creek and the trail heads southwest.  Even though it’s raining, we get pretty warm quickly.  Soon the rain stops, we stop to take off our coats and store them in our packs.

The trail ranges up and down with some pretty good hills.  It’s not the worst trail we’ve been on in the park so far.  We are heading to a gap in the ridge that runs parallel with the Abrams Creek.  At the gap, the river sounds like it right next to you.  Once you cross the gap, the river sounds like it is behind you all of sudden.

After the gap, we start heading down the mountain for the valley.  We are walking down the opposite side of the mountain.  We cross over some feeder creeks and streams running to Abrams Creek.  It is getting wider and moving fast.  As we get to the last downward slope, the trail becomes a huge piece of upended rock that is jagged and uneven.  The climbing here is a lot more difficult.

We round the corner where the creek runs and there is the falls.  There are lots of large boulders here that you scramble over to get to the water’s edge.  There are two couples already here.  One of the pair had passed us on the way down.

Abrams Falls has the largest pool at the bottom of all the falls in the park.  It is a favorite swimming hole for a lot of people.  A set of young men come down the trail and immediately prepare to go swimming. The dangers in this pool are great.  There are large, unseen boulders that could get in your way of swimming underwater.  The force of the falls could suck you under the water and keep you down.

Rich walks around taking pictures while I rest.  He notices that the falls is receding along the wall and moving west.  It’s almost like Niagara Fall and how it is receding and moving along the rock wall behind the falls.  Rich takes a picture of me with the falls in the background.  This is proof that I made the hike.

We gather up our packs and start the journey up.  We’ve given ourselves plenty of time to take the trail.  So far, we’ve done pretty good on time.  The walk down takes us about an hour and fifteen minutes.  We are hoping to match that going back up.

We get over the rough rocks and up the first hills.  Then we start hearing thunder off behind us.  I didn’t think that the weather usually came from that direction.  As we continue up the mountain, the sound of thunder gets closer and louder.  By the time we reach the gap, the sounds are very close.  We hear lighting, but we don’t see it strike.  We have passed several people just starting down the trail to the falls.  It’s unwise to be on the mountain in a storm.

We hear more lighting and thunder as we go down the mountain.  People just ahead of us are turning around rather than risk being exposed on the mountain.  It begins to pour at one point and we are getting wet.  Rich stops to put his camera in his pack to protect it. The rain is cool and feels good after the long hike.

We just make it over the bridge and head to the parking lot when it absolutely pours down on us.  Luckily, we are in a stand of thick trees and it prevents us from being pelted by the rain.  I look out past the parking lot and see a doe and her fawn coming through the meadow beside the road.  Rich gets his camera out and tries to catch them before they disappear from our view.

Since the rain is still coming down, we grab our sandwich stuff and eat in the car.  It’s just enough to keep us from starving until dinner.  It’s about 3:30 now and we have dinner plans at 5:00!  We get moving because we still have to complete the 11 mile loop to back to the cabin.  Everyone is only driving 10 miles an hour.

We got as fast as possible with the traffic, rain, and park conditions.  We make it out of the park and back onto the by-pass around town in good time.  I see some wild turkey and try to stop so Rich can take pictures.  Unfortunately, the turkeys aren’t cooperating and walk out of his range.  He tries anyway.

As we go up the road to our cabin, Rich takes pictures.  I plan to use an animation program and stitch them together so that we can simulate what the drive up to the cabin looks like.  Since I used one to show Rich walking the width of the Appalachian Trail, it’s worth a shot to see if it would turn out.

We arrive at the cabin at 4:15.  We have to meet Pete and Karen at 5:00 in Pigeon Forge.  It’s going to be close.  We rush through showers and get dressed.  It’s quarter to when we leave the cabin.  Luckily, Pigeon Forge is only 10 minutes away.

We arrived right at 5:00.  The hot rod run looked like it was kicking into full swing, but the parking lot was not that full yet.  We parked and went in to get a buzzer.  Rich called Pete to see where they were.  Unfortunately, they got caught coming into town and were going to be a few minutes.  It didn’t take them too long before they pulled into the parking lot.  As they got out and walked up, the buzzer went off.  Good timing.  We got our seats, drinks, and the talk began.

After dinner, we walked around the cars outside the restaurant a little bit.  There was a lot of traffic and people.  Time to move the jig saw from our car to Pete’s van.  Back when Pete and Karen were moving to Tennessee, Rich bought the saw.  In the time since he’s had it, it sat in the garage.  It seemed like a good opportunity to return an antique to its owner.

We continue to stand in the parking lot talking and talking.  We just couldn’t seem to stop.  The weather is turning bad around us, so it is time to call it quits.  We say our final good-byes and leave the restaurant parking lot.  It is easy for us to get out.  We get into the middle lane and buzz right out of town.  We follow the road to Cove Mountain Road and right onto the concrete platform in front of Grandma’s Gift.

When we get in the door, the storm outside breaks loose.  There is a clap of thunder and a pounding on the roof.  We settle into our routine in the living room with our computers.  I’m writing the last blog to try and get caught up.  Rich is sorting pictures from the day’s hike.  We hear the sound of a large truck come up Cove Mountain Road and pass the cabin.  Then there is the sound of backup beepers going off.

I open the front door of the cabin and there is an ambulance backing right up to the front door.  I stand there and watch them back right up to within inches of the wall.  They stop, pull forward, and continue up the hill.  I look out and there is a full truck and ladder backing up on the road just above us.  There are 5 or 6 guys with flashlights waving him around so that he doesn’t run off the road.

The fire truck comes around and down the road.  They continue down the hill and I hear them get to the bottom.  The ambulance comes down the road following the fire truck.  I shut the door and come inside. The sound of the truck and ambulance echo from the road down below the cabin.  I guess they are still looking for something or someone.

We share some time alone on our couches enjoying just being in the same room.  Then it’s off to bed.  Tomorrow is our last full day in Gatlinburg.  We intend to hike and see another part of the park.  We need our beauty rest for that.

My morning picture of Mt. Leconte from our porch.
My morning picture of Mt. Leconte from our porch.

 

Smoky Mountains looking north from John Oliver's homestead.
Smoky Mountains looking north from John Oliver’s homestead.
Smoky Mountains looking south from John Oliver's homestead.
Smoky Mountains looking south from John Oliver’s homestead.
More smoking mountains early on Thursday.
More smoking mountains early on Thursday.
Coyote stopping by Abrams Falls to visit us before hitting the trail.
Coyote stopping by Abrams Falls to visit us before hitting the trail.
Even the creek is smoky here.
Even the creek is smoky here.
Rapids on Abrams Creek.
Rapids on Abrams Creek.
Rich at the Gap on Abrams Falls trail.
Rich at the Gap on Abrams Falls trail.
Joy at the Gap on Abrams Falls trail.
Joy at the Gap on Abrams Falls trail.
A yellow frog crossed our path.
A yellow frog crossed our path.
Another shot of Abrams Falls.
Another shot of Abrams Falls.
Abrams Falls
Abrams Falls
Another shot of Abrams Falls.
Another shot of Abrams Falls.
Up close at Abrams Falls.
Up close at Abrams Falls.
Joy at Abrams Falls
Joy at Abrams Falls
Rich on the roughest part of the trail back from Abrams Falls.
Rich on the roughest part of the trail back from Abrams Falls.
Doe and her fawn moving through the meadow.
Doe and her fawn moving through the meadow.
Two turkeys in the bushes.
Two turkeys in the bushes.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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