Sunday, November 5, 2017

a G-R-E-A-T day in great smoky mountain national park

Despite the torrential downpour of rain, 
the fog obscuring our mountain views, 
and even the snow flurries that were 
proof of how cold it was, we had a great day at 
great smoky mountain national park! 
alum cave trail fall
Believe it or not, the great smoky mountains is the most visited US national park. More than the grand canyon or yosemite or yellowstone. And it also happens to be one of the closest parks to me, so it's crazy that we hadn't visited it yet when it's right in my backyard. We definitely needed to remedy that, but were waiting for the timing to be right. great smoky national park autumn
great smoky national park autumn
We almost visited last spring when we did our southern road trip to Nashville Tennessee and Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. But at the last minute, we decided to wait and try to catch the smoky mountains during fall foliage season when they are at their best. It was a risk to do this with not knowing how the weather would be or exactly when the leaves would change. But even with the rain and snow, we definitely think that it paid off. 
great smoky national park autumn
For our first stop coming into the park, we drove the blue ridge parkway in through the North Carolina entrance to hike along the oconaluftee river trail.
oconaluftee river trail
oconaluftee river trail
oconaluftee river trail
It was the quickest trail along the river with the best pay off of spotting these elk and mountain views.
oconaluftee river trail
oconaluftee river trail
popping in for a closer look, loved seeing the elk baby calves 
oconaluftee river trail
great smoky mountain national park autumn
 then back onto the road 
great smoky mountain national park autumn
great smoky mountain national park autumn
watching for elk crossings as we passed
great smoky mountain national park autumn
great smoky mountain national park autumn
We always like to do an iconic hike during our national park visits. And for the Great Smokies, Mount LeConte is the obvious choice. We didn't get to hike the entire mountain side since the fog was rolling in and blocking our views, but we did hike the best part with doing the 5 mile loop to the Alum Cave Trail on the Tennessee side of the national park.
alum cave trail fall
getting started on the trail even with their being a constant downpour of rain 
alum cave trail fall
We are no strangers to hiking in crazy weather, so we've learned a few things and I had on all the layers to keep warm including this base layer and hiking leggings, two patagonias: a fleece & a thermal insulator, this rain jacket, and coat. Definitely ready for any weather on the mountain. 
great smoky mountain national park autumn
great smoky mountain national park
over the river and through the woods...to the top of a mountain we go 
great smoky mountain national park
our first glimpse of the caves! 
alum cave trail fall
alum cave trail fall
before you hit the actual cave, you pass through this smaller archway cave, which is a nice little teaser and motivation to keep going 
alum cave trail fall
great smoky mountain national park
great smoky mountain national park
perfect timing with some of the fog rolling out in time to catch some great views on our way up
great smoky mountain national park
great smoky mountain national park
great smoky mountain national park
and finally climbing the last peak to our destination
alum cave trail fall
alum cave trail fallalum cave trail fall
Alum Cave with my favorite Caveman!
alum cave trail fall
alum cave trail fall
Glad to call the great smokies our 17th national park visit together. And even happier that we waited to visit this place at the best time of the year. It was the perfect stop along our autumn road trip on the blue ridge parkway. 

2 comments:

  1. Growing up, my family visited Gatlinburg every summer - my favorite thing was always visiting Cade's Cove. I love the mountains and the Smokies are so gorgeous!

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    1. yes we loved the smokies and wish we had more than a day to explore. fall is apparently the busiest time to visit so we came in on the NC side since we knew gatlinburg would be bursting with tourists. I would love to come back in the summer though and do the city of gatlinburg and some hikes on the TN side. that sounds heavenly, your family definitely had the right idea

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