Roaring Fork

Saturday April 23^nd 2011

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This morning, we checked the LP

gas which is 7/8^th full,

the water which is nearly full

and the tanks nearly empty. 

Clearly we could boondock here for over 2 weeks

and are going to have to start using up some water

if we don’t want to tote it on into Tennessee

as we head west on Monday. 

The real problem is the batteries

which we have no way (YET) of topping up.

We spent the afternoon hiking the Grotto Falls trail

and driving the Roaring Fork Motor Trail

that leads to and from it.

It was a lovely though crowded hike.

This was the largest number of

people we’d seen on any trail

since we arrived.

But then it is Saturday.

The trail goes up Mt. LeConte

and continues on another 4 miles

past the falls to the Lodge at the top. 

One of the things on my bucket list is

to hike up to the lodge

and spend the night

with kerosene lantern light

and dinner packed in by llamas.  

But, unfortunately, not this trip

This trail has the things we love

big trees, wildflowers and water.

Tree hugger at work.

Cut-leafed Toothwort

Parts of the trail were sad because of all the dead hemlocks.

Eastern Hemlock is a key species in

the southern appalachian forests and plays

an important role in the ecology and hydrology

of mountain ecosystems.

They are some of the largest most common trees in the park

and are under attack by a non-native insect

called the hemlock wooly adelgid.

Hemlocks are called "the redwoods of the east"

and can grow to 150' tall with trunks 6' in diameter.

Some hemlocks in the park are more than 500 years old

and more than 800 acres of old growth hemlocks grow in the Smokies.

More than in any other national park.
It's sad.

It's a story similar to that of the chestnut

and we have seen entire hillsides of dead trees

along the Blue Ridge Parkway

and in the Shenandoah National Park.

There are things that can be done

but of course they require funding

which for all our parks is in short supply.

We covered the 2.6 mile hike in 3 hours.

Of course it clearly can be done in less time

IF

#1 - you take fewer pictures

on the trail. 
As usual, these really don't do it justice.

The stream leading up to the falls

I love nature's trial designs

#2  It won't take so long also if you

don’t spend a lonnnggg time for  lunch at the falls

(Getting ready to walk behind the falls)

(from under the falls - what fun!)

(today's scenic lunch spot)

and #3 - It will also speed you up if you don't

stay so long watching “the bear”.

On the way down from the falls,

we spent quite some time watching this black bear

pretty high up on a limb in large tree. 

S/he seemed to be trying to take a nap,

leaning his forehead and then side of his face

against the tree.

Don’t know if all the people down on the ground

trying to get pictures

or like me, see him through binoculars,

were disturbing his sleep but

he certainly did create a trail bottleneck.

Although the tree was about 30’ off the trail

I had a great view through my binoculars.

My camera was not up to the task of pictures

but I hope you can see these that David took

Click to make them larger.

Further down the trail,
I found these "feet and toes".

Looked like Hobbit Land to me

On the drive back to Gatlinburg,

which you have to go through

unfortunately

to get to this section of the park,

we stopped to see the 2 cabins

& one home on the “tour”.

The Jim Bales Cabin
was on a beautiful site
with lovely dogwoods in full bloom in the yard.



The view from Jim's only window



Ephraim & Minerva Bales
raised NINE children in this
small two room dog-trot cabin.



Looking back from the barn and tiny pig stye.

The Roaring Fork community was even more isolated
due to its stony roads

and was smaller than Cades Cove.

Like Ephrim Bales, Alfred Reagan was a farmer.
But he was also a jack of all trades and his
more upscale home shows the fruits of his
labors as a carpenter, a miller and a blacksmith.

The Regan house sported all 3 colors of paint

offered by Sears Roebuck at the time.

The dwarf iris in the yard were in full bloom

Even the fireplace inside is up to date.

Only the house and the mill remain of the

structures and businesses built by Reagan.

The view of the mill race from inside the mill




 the old Mill Stream

The Roaring Fork itself is breathtakingly gorgeous

as it really does
ROAR down Mt. LeConte.

The views from your car are spectacular

as are the sounds of the river.

There are not, however, pull overs to get pictures

of this beauty so unless you are there

on a day when there are few others,

not a Saturday,

you won’t be able to stop.

Coming down from Roaring Fork into the city

was quite a culture shock.

Many of the families displaced from

Roaring Fork moved down the mountain

to Galinburg but I doubt they’d recognize this place today.

On our drive back to Elkmont,

we stopped by the Sugarlands Visitor’s Center

to use the cell phone and internet

just in case there was some news or business

we needed to take care of. 

The Visitor’s Center is much larger

than the one at Cades Cove. 

The rangers are very knowledgable. 

It has a wonderful museum,

short film

and gift shop

with everything you could need, want or imagine. 

We were out of jam

so we picked up a pint of local blueberry preserves for $6. 

Having made jam from scratch most of my life, 

I can say that is a great price for the effort involved.

We spent a quiet evening to end a wonderful day.

Our stay in the Smokies is nearly over.

Tomorrow we’ll just wrap things up and

get ready to move on Monday.

That’s going to be hard to do.

This is such a fabulous place!!
And there is so much more to see and do.