Today was our last full day in the Smoky Mountains and last night it went down to 27F. Lots of frost this morning but it was sunny and this aft, the forecast high was going up to a balmy 53F in the valley in Pigeon Forge where we’ve been staying for the last week.
But...no way was it that warm where we spent 4.5 hours today. In fact, I know it was below freezing (snowball fight anyone?) despite the fact the sky was an incredible shade of blue and there wasn’t a single cloud in sight.
We ran into some people earlier in the week who recommended that we do the Ramsey Cascades hike, 8 miles return trip, elevation gain of 2375 ft. First 1.5 miles were relatively easy and the snow made for nice scenery but it didn’t bother us much, in fact it was invigorating! We are Canadian after all!!
But when it came to the first ice bridge, it got a bit scary but we made it across no problem. The trail got icier and icier and while going up wasn’t bad, we were worried about coming back down. And, as it got warmer and the snow melted off the trees, we dodged falling slush balls and hiked thru what felt like rain at times. It was fun! Really! The cascading falls at the end were worth it, they were pretty incredible but it would have been nice to have somewhere dry to sit and eat lunch. Let’s just say we dined and dashed because it was F#$%#^g cold, especially when dressed in sweaty clothes. Coming back down wasn’t as bad as we expected it to be either. Today turned out to be my favourite Smoky Mountain hike.
Earlier this week, we did a couple of other shorter hikes, both about 5 miles return. One on a day warm enough to be in shorts, the other on a much colder, wet day, but no white stuff. We would have liked to drive up to the highest peak here, the Clingman’s Dome, 6,643 ft elevation but the road has been closed due to...you guessed it SNOW, for the past few days. So that’ll have to happen some other time.
To be honest, this whole Smokey Mountain area, which consists of Sevierville (Dolly Parton’s home town), Pigeon Forge (home to Dollywood, no we didn’t go there!) and Gatlinburg is EXTREMELY touristy. The main drag is full of hotels, stores, restaurants, arcades, and of course, country music shows. Also lots of arts and crafts stores in Gatlinburg where I’m sure you could buy just about any trinket imaginable to woman...but we didn’t step foot in one. I did however get in a bit of retail therapy at the 2 outlet malls on the crappy days though! A girl’s gotta shop right!
The snow today really didn’t bother us too much (Dave say’s I should speak for myself on that subject) because...in 3 days we’ll be on the beach in Murrell’s Inlet on the South Carolina east coast and it’s supposed to be sunny and 72F. God that’s going to feel good!
Check out the PICTURES!