A Visit to Cades Cove

A new day, an early rising, heading to the infamous Cades Cove. As we headed to checkout, we got distracted by creek side pics but this gave us an opportunity to help some honeymooners make some memories. John and Leslie from Alabama had gotten married Friday in Gatlinburg but they hadn’t any pictures together except at the wedding!! No way! So several sets of batteries, two cameras, memory card errors, you name it - it happened but they were great sports even crossing the creek a couple times to get the “picture”. I think we got some pretty cool (and perhaps “priceless”) pics that will be the beginning of a lifetime of memories for this special couple. Congratulations and Best Wishes to you both!

So, we missed the early edition of Cades Cove – another day, another visit! But we still saw turkey, squirrels and several deers including some fawns. Although there was excessive bear activity in the area, we missed all of them. Not that we didn’t try to see a bear. In fact, a bear had just been sighted as we arrived at the Moore cabin. How come everything cool calls for a hike? Yet again! We are totally crazy at times…nervous – what if we actually see a bear? Excited – hey, we might get to see a bear! I really had no idea a hike was involved when the ranger told me about the bear. All the other buildings had been along the road. But off we go on another mile hike, through the woods, the deep dark woods, nearly alone, no cell service, probably not a very wise decision. Really, what would we have done if we had seen a bear? No one would have believed the pictures snapped as we ran away and we would have run! It’s one thing to see a bear from the safety of your car with your window rolled down and quite another out in the woods on a trail with no place to hide!

Definitely added Cades Cove on our list of places to visit again…early in the morning, late in the afternoon or when the rangers tell you it takes 3 ½ hours to go eleven miles! Drop everything….there’s wildlife on the move!

Enjoy the moments of each day… C!