Wednesday we woke up a bit early (no woodpecker that night) and packed up.
Since a check on the
website revealed that the Newfound Gap road up to Clingman’s Dome was still
closed, we changed our planned hike to Alum Cave to be a hike to Laurel Falls
instead. This gave us a chance to drive along Little River road that had been
closed the first day. The weather in the
morning was definitely spring-like and the little snow dog that Emilie built
the day before was quickly melting. We
had to drive back to Pigeon Forge to drop off the keys to the rental cabin, and
then back drop to the Gatlinburg Bypass. 
 |
| Gatlinburg |
Going over the Gatlinburg Bypass gave
us a wonderful view of snow and fog covered Mount LeConte and then Clingman’s Dome in the background. I think both
JP and I were impressed by the fact that we had hiked up Clingman's Dome from
base to peak.
We stopped briefly at the Sugarland Vistor center, which was
extremely crowded and then drove to the Laurel Falls trailhead.
After searching for parking spot along the
crowded road, we turned back around and were extremely fortunate that someone
was pulling out and we got a parking spot right at the trailhead.
Although the girls had hiked to Laurel Falls previously,
they didn’t remember it. I remembered it
mostly as the only paved trail in the Smokies and told the girls the hike was
pretty flat. However, in actuality, the
trail climbs 300 ft (25 stories) in the 1.3 miles to the falls which is a
pretty decent pitch.
The trail was
crowded with families, but in the sections where there were gaps between
groups, the kids had snowball fights.
I will have to say that JP and I probably saw 100 times more
people on these trails, than in all our backcountry trips in the Smokies. So
one of the attractions of the Smokies is that there is something for everyone,
and by choosing your trail you can easily choose easy and crowded or
breathtakingly beautiful solitude. As it nears the last quarter mile to the
falls, the trail narrows with very steep drop-offs and was quite icy. I was
impressed that AM was able to make it, given her fear of heights.
Laurel Falls is a set of cascades and
certainly pretty enough to justify the attention given to it by park visitors
 |
| Laurel Falls |
On our return trip, AM did her good turn and picked
up bits of trash that people had dropped on the trail.
After finishing our
hike, we continued our drive on Little River Road, stopping at the Sinks.
This is a short cascade section in Little
River. When JP and I had been here
before, we had seen some people getting ready to run the cascade in kayaks, but
had not had the chance to see them actually do the run. Personally, I thought
it looked crazy dangerous.
When we
pulled in the Sinks parking lot, there was a group of about six kayakers
getting set up to run the cascade and we were fortunate to see them actually
make the run.
It was amazing and they
made it look easy. Although I no longer have any kayaking skills whatsoever, I
have to say that in watching them and driving along the river, a day on the
Little River looked mighty tempting.
After leaving the
Sinks we drove home, stopping briefly at the Townsend Visitor’s Center.
