Smokies Day 3

We drove the Tremont Road which is always one of our favorites. It has a self driving tour about old logging days. Since we have been going there over the last 14 years, we usually just look for wild life and plants. We pulled over about midway and got out to look at the Little River. Paul decided to take a "souvenir". It was a small river rock. I had to share the story of the time when I was in Ireland and I took several rocks to give to staff members. It was not until I went back several years later that I discovered it was illegeal to remove those rocks.

After driving down the Tremont road we headed to Cades Cove around 10:00 a.m. On Wednesdays and Saturdays only bicycles are allowed on the loop road before 10:00 a.m. As we went through the first half of the loop we saw a bear jam. A bear was up a tree sleeping. Everyone was out taking pictures but we decided to skip since we have gotten better pictures.

We drove around the loop road once and then decided to head down the Rich Mountain road. This is a unimproved road that winds around the mountain. We took a few picures showing one of the churches. (This is the scenery that you see often on calendars showing the Smoky Mountains). When finishing the road, we tried to find the sink hole that a co-worker of mine had told me about. We headed down the main trail for about a 1/4 of a mile but didn't find the trail that headed off. We came back and I got several great pictures of wildflowers.

After a leisurly dinner and rest, we went back to the Cove. The same bear that was up in the tree earlier that morning was still in the tree. It was using a branch as a pillow. How cute? Well our trip was over but we surely enjoyed the time together and the beautiful scenery. Until next time.....