Saturday Morning in Cades Cove

Saturday July 21, 2018                                                                     Most Recent Posts:
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Saturday morning is one of the days when the park service closes the Cades Cove auto loop to motor vehicles and turns it over to walkers and bikers and runners.  I start out at about 7:30 walking down the road and enjoying the views of the high valley surrounded by mountains.

The low lying clouds and fog are lifting and they are great to watch

This morning turns out to be a morning for the birds.  This goldfinch and his friends are all over the seeds from these grasses in the fields.

I spy a pewee on one of the fences in the woods.

Looks like this Eastern Bluebird is resting on a sign along the road with a morsel in his bill.

I wonder if this juvenile Blue Bird is the intended recipient of the morsel.  He looks rather large to be depending on his parents to provide his food.

I was very lucky to get this yellow throated warbler who flitted all around the tree before I finally got a decent picture of him.  Wonderful seeing all these birds.   This is the reason I walk.  I wouldn’t see any of them if I were in a car or even on a bike or running.

But we did bike it on our last trip here in 2011 and if you like biking and can do 11 miles of up and down, there isn’t a prettier bike path anywhere I don’t think.

I love the folds in these mountains.

Since both Downy and Hairy woodpeckers are frequent and permanent residents in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I’m not positive who this is but I’m guessing it’s a Downy based on the bill.

The orange butterfly plant stands out starkly in the field.

We’ve had a LOT of rain here nearly every afternoon and the water on Sparks Lane, which is one of the cross overs for those who don’t want to do the entire loop,  is running over the road.  With this in mind I’ve actually worn my hiking boots rather than walking shoes which would be fine for road walking.

There are actually ripples as it moves across the road.  Turns out it’s a little deeper even than I want to go in hiking boots since it will cover the whole top of the boot.  That would be OK if I was on a trail and had to, but there are no rocks to hop over here and since I have a choice I turn around and head back.

I continue on the main loop road and decide to walk up the quarter mile lane to the John Oliver House. 

John and Lucretia (now that’s a name you don’t hear any more) Oliver arrived in Cades Cove in 1818, one of the first European Settlers to arrive.  Their home is one of the oldest structures in the park.  Members of the Oliver Family lived here until removal.

This photograph is on the information board.  It was taken in 1957.

The park has done a wonderful job of maintaining the house.  Notice the foundation in the next two pictures.

It’s a one room cabin with a loft and only two windows.  Most of the air conditioning came from having both the front and the back doors open to any breeze.  I can look right through the house.

It’s so dark inside that I had to use  my flash.   I think the little door on the right is for firewood storage under the stairs.

Steep stairs to the loft.

Notice the front door hinge and handle.

I think these hinges are so clever.  You never have to oil them.

A throw bolt door lock only requires a hole to shove it into.  A bit harder to break into than our modern doors.

These foundations just amaze me.  The whole house sits on rocks.

  The Rich Mountain Trail leads through the John Oliver property.  I may hike some of it on another day.

 

Here’s the view from the back porch over the field I’m going to walk through as I leave rather than take the lane through the woods that I used to get here.  I can imagine sitting in a rocker on this porch stringing beans and loving the view.

There are a couple of paths mowed through the field to make the hiking more tick free.  I take the path that seems to have less standing water.

Back on the road, it’s nearly time to go return if I don’t want to be sharing the road with a line of incoming cars all moving at a snale’s pace.  I so appreciate the quiet with no motors.  I can hear the wind, the birds, things that get drowned out in our hectic automotive filled lives.

I pass some birds of a feather.  I see them every time I come.  Still haven’t seen the gobbler.  He must be around somewhere.

The last bird I see is perhaps not the same one I saw earlier but the Eastern Wood Pewee looks me in the eye and then turns his back to me and over his shoulder seems to say good bye.

Cades Cove is a wonderful place to spend a Saturday morning.  It’s a unique spot in this fantastic National Park.