Long time no Blog! I guess a little thing called COVID happened : \
We've had a few trips since the Arizona 2020 trip. 2021: many car rides to Rochester and Scarsdale, first COVID flight on July 4th to Gloucester. 2022: Boston, DC, Gloucester, Chicago, French Lick. 2023: Park City Utah, Stinson Beach CA, Austin TX.
First trip of 2024 was a 5d trek to Gatlinburg and the Smokey Mountains. We drove down on 3/30 and stopped by Lexington, KY for a break. But the break ended up being a 4.4 mile hike at Raven Run Sanctuary! Ended up doing a hodgepodge of red, green, and blue walking trails to reach Silver Falls. Passed a few beds of wildflowers too. Beautiful weather (sunny, 70s) but unfortunately, we dressed and packed for a long car ride, not a lengthy trek into the wilderness, and certain members of the party got a little hot, hungry, and grumpy. Made it to our awesome cabin ("Treehouse Lodge") just outside Gatlinburg before sunset, and the kids jumped onto Cato's treehouse:
A quick pasta dinner and leftover pizza and then early (ish) bedtime to anticipate Smokey Mountain adventures ahead.
Sunday 3/31 (5.5 miles)
After breakfast at the cabin we drove to Grotto Falls leaving from the Trillium Gap trailhead. Rockstar parking (only 1/4 wheels were sticking out onto the road, I'll take it). Moderately difficult, but only 3 miles and fresh mountain air to boost our energy. The Falls themselves were spectacular, with a cave behind them to allow passage behind the falls. Saya may have left her hiking stick on the other side "accidentally" and may have had to go back and forth behind the falls a few times ;)
But wait! That's not all. After eating leftover for lunch at the cabin, we decided it was just too nice of a day to stay indoors. We ended up going to Mynatt Park and experiencing our first (of many) river rock jumping adventures. These monkey-bears are such good climbers!
We found an amazing Thai restaurant (The Baht) for take out dinner and despite the moderately spicy food the whole family gobbled the drunken noodles, sticky rice, green curry, and Wok vegetables.
Monday 4/1 (7.2 miles)
On day 2 we pulled the veteran move to have an early breakfast in the car on the way to Anakeesta in downtown Gatlinburg. The kids braved a chairlift in windy/rainy conditions to make it to the top of the mountain where Firefly village was awaiting.
We explored Vista Gardens, Treehouse climbs, Birdhouse bouncing, and more. View from the top of the Tower:
Oh, and I had my first cup of coffee for the trip ;)
Came down the mountain for lunch at ... Subway! Walked around Gatlinburg a bit, got some bear prints from a local Art gallery, indulged in candied apples, and then did another afternoon hike to another rock scramble.
Dinner was Jyo's famous 10min tortilla soup (yum!) followed by attacking a half-galloon of vanilla ice cream to celebrate Aku's half birthday :)
Tuesday 4/2 (7.2 miles)
Left the cabin bright and early to get to the Huskey Branch Falls via Little River Trail. Another moderate hike but very gentle incline. Aku regaled me with a comprehensive overview of Magnus Kingdom of Chess for about 45 min nonstop... And then it was on to renditions of "NYTimes Digits" for the rest of the hike.
The big falls were a little anticlimactic, but there was a perfect river-rock scramble near the end.
This was a tough hike...kids got puckered out near the end.
Came home to discover that the fridge in the cabin broke, and all the food was spoiled (including the remains of the half gallon tub...should have just finished it on Monday!). They sent a mini-fridge delivered that night and reimbursed a new instacart order to make up for it. Dinner was 10min cabin chole that was delicious, and we played our first game of Wingspan, a new Patel family favorite! Beautiful pictures, fun facts about birds, mildly competitive with lots of individual personal goals to achieve. Pretty perfect for our crowd :)
Wednesday 4/3 (6.3 miles)
Coldest day by far. After enduring a storm overnight, the temperature dropped to the 30s-40s (from 70s!) and it was drizzling when we departed in the morning. But we were (mostly) prepared, with layers of weatherproofing. Decided to tackle the Alum Cave trail, knowing that it would be rainy/cold but moderately crowded. It was most definitely rainy and cold, and not crowded at all. The kids were real troopers, with only moderate complaining (ok, maybe more than moderate). Note: no need for hiking sticks when it's that cold; wear more layers than you think you need; consider hand warmers; cotton mittens get cold when wet. Pretty views up to the cave, but not much time to enjoy them as any stoppage resulted in feeling more complaints...
Planned to reward ourselves with Subway for lunch again, but the line was out the door and down the block, so stumbled upon this gem (Whole Earth Cafe). Delicious, quick meal (lentil burgers, wraps, salads...and tea/coffee!). Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home and preparing for our trip back home.
Thursday 4/4
And that was the end of our short (but sweet!) trip to the Smokies! Left bright and early on 4/4 to avoid the traffic, a quick stop for lunch in Lexington KY (Squire's Corner Kitchen; lovely hole-in-the-wall vegan friendly spot), and back home for a relaxing dinner of daal-baath-rotli-shak :)
