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Kedren Turner's Travels
Smoky Mountains
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Fri - ranger hike to cataract falls, 1 mile round trip. Highlight was learning definitively what poison ivy looks like. Kinda wish I still didn't know cause now I realize it's EVERYWHERE. I don't know how we all haven't gotten rashes from it yet. It is so innocuous looking, they say look for the plant with 3 leaves but there are hundreds of plants with 3 leaves! Anyway now we know and I can't go back to not knowing.
Found a great spot for a picnic, next to the Little River. Some nice warm, flat rocks to sit on. I'm getting sick of sandwiches though, gotta find some other portable food alternatives. Then the kids and Craig fished. I was as usual paranoid about several things; the kids falling in and getting swept away (no danger as water was only 8" deep and current v gentle), one of the kids having to use the toilet (Annabelle had to go twice, nos 1 & 2), Craig getting caught fishing both without a license and with live bait (the park ranger drove up and was checking people fishing, Craig had gotten rid of the worm by then and gave Annabelle the rod so it appeared it was only a kid fishing), rednecks (a few but harmless), bears, snakes and other harmful animals, and river parasites. None of these turned out to be a concern. Annabelle caught a river crayfish, which was totally unexpected. They are very slow moving apparently. They have huge claws. I wonder if they're good to eat? Craig twice caught the same 3-4" fish that looked like a trout. However he caught it illegally (used live bait, which is forbidden in the park). No one else caught anything. Innes had fun playing in the river. For a few minutes he whined that I hadn't brought any toys. I agreed that yes, I hadn't brought any toys. He said "well, what are you gonna do?" He wanted me to go back to the cabin and get him some toys. That kid! Within 10 minutes he was wrapped up in a game of cars, using leaves for cars and the snails Annabelle harvested as police. Then he moved on to sitting on the rock pretending he was on a kayak, using a huge stick to pretend paddle. I was proud of him, he does do a good job of entertaining himself sometimes. I didn't bring extra clothes so tried to keep him from getting totally soaked. That worked until the end when he fell down into the river and was indeed soaked. We had to put him into the only extra clothes I did bring - Annabelles jeans. I was anxious to leave because I wanted to do the Laurel Falls hike. Craig was having fun fishing, but he was really the only one into it. Finally he agreed and we drove to Laurel Falls.
This was described as a 'moderate' hike to a lovely waterfall, 2.8 miles round trip. I wasn't sure if the kids would make it, but I wanted to try and we could always turn back if they got tired. I would agree that it was moderate, only in that it was slightly uphill (300ft gain) all the way up. It was easy in that it's a paved trail. Annabelle was fine but Innes of course complained quite a bit right at the beginning. Then I had the I must say, brilliant idea to time their complaints and make it a competition. I explained what a complaint was so there was no confusion. The longest Innes went without complaint was a 50 minute stretch. Pretty good! The views near the top were stunning. Looked out over the valley to the mountains in the distance with the ever present smoky haze. No animals but Innes growled in the way up like a bear. Annabelle didn't complain to speak of and enjoyed stopping off at a little pre waterfall. At the top it was a very nice fall. Not spectacular but nice. Annabelle took off her shoes and was walking on the rocks (in a safe area) when she slipped and slid in on her bum into the water. So now she was soaked from the waist down. We sat and breathed in the cool air coming off the falls. There were more people than I would have liked but I guess it's popular because it's paved. I saw lots of families wih kids in strollers. Unbelieveably, Annabelle had to potty again! I asked with a sense of dred what she had to do...pee. Thank God. I just sat her back in the puddle she had fallen into and told her to go for it. There were people drinking from the stream earlier in the hike. I was thinking 'I wouldn't do that...' and here's why! You don't know what some kid has done in that water at the top before it gets to you! Now she is usually really good at not having to pee a lot but here she'd gone twice with one poo for good measure. Ah well at least they were well hydrated.
We then decided to drive to Cades Cove stables for horse riding. On the way we came across a traffic jam. Bear! Kind of far off but cool to see. I don't know why I thought the stable was open til 6 or 7 but when we got there it was closed.
So we drove home, had spaghetti, me and Innes got in the hot tub nekked then watched some tv. Innes was sweet the rest of the evening as I had given him a small treat for his small stretch of not complaining. He told me that after my shower he was gonna cuddle with me on the couch (after he cuddled with daddy). Then later he said that when he grows up he's gonna build me a treehouse (we were watching tv show about tree houses) with 3 bathrooms for us all to use.
Great day in the smokies! I wonder what this insect noise is outside? It sounds like a chorus - like someone sawing. Each half of the woods alternates this sound that's like 3 fast shakes of maracas. So it's like sawing because half the woods makes the maraca sound and then is quiet while the other half makes the same sound. It sounds like its coming from up in the trees. It's probably frogs but do frogs know how to throw their voices? Maybe cicadas or something.
Found a great spot for a picnic, next to the Little River. Some nice warm, flat rocks to sit on. I'm getting sick of sandwiches though, gotta find some other portable food alternatives. Then the kids and Craig fished. I was as usual paranoid about several things; the kids falling in and getting swept away (no danger as water was only 8" deep and current v gentle), one of the kids having to use the toilet (Annabelle had to go twice, nos 1 & 2), Craig getting caught fishing both without a license and with live bait (the park ranger drove up and was checking people fishing, Craig had gotten rid of the worm by then and gave Annabelle the rod so it appeared it was only a kid fishing), rednecks (a few but harmless), bears, snakes and other harmful animals, and river parasites. None of these turned out to be a concern. Annabelle caught a river crayfish, which was totally unexpected. They are very slow moving apparently. They have huge claws. I wonder if they're good to eat? Craig twice caught the same 3-4" fish that looked like a trout. However he caught it illegally (used live bait, which is forbidden in the park). No one else caught anything. Innes had fun playing in the river. For a few minutes he whined that I hadn't brought any toys. I agreed that yes, I hadn't brought any toys. He said "well, what are you gonna do?" He wanted me to go back to the cabin and get him some toys. That kid! Within 10 minutes he was wrapped up in a game of cars, using leaves for cars and the snails Annabelle harvested as police. Then he moved on to sitting on the rock pretending he was on a kayak, using a huge stick to pretend paddle. I was proud of him, he does do a good job of entertaining himself sometimes. I didn't bring extra clothes so tried to keep him from getting totally soaked. That worked until the end when he fell down into the river and was indeed soaked. We had to put him into the only extra clothes I did bring - Annabelles jeans. I was anxious to leave because I wanted to do the Laurel Falls hike. Craig was having fun fishing, but he was really the only one into it. Finally he agreed and we drove to Laurel Falls.
This was described as a 'moderate' hike to a lovely waterfall, 2.8 miles round trip. I wasn't sure if the kids would make it, but I wanted to try and we could always turn back if they got tired. I would agree that it was moderate, only in that it was slightly uphill (300ft gain) all the way up. It was easy in that it's a paved trail. Annabelle was fine but Innes of course complained quite a bit right at the beginning. Then I had the I must say, brilliant idea to time their complaints and make it a competition. I explained what a complaint was so there was no confusion. The longest Innes went without complaint was a 50 minute stretch. Pretty good! The views near the top were stunning. Looked out over the valley to the mountains in the distance with the ever present smoky haze. No animals but Innes growled in the way up like a bear. Annabelle didn't complain to speak of and enjoyed stopping off at a little pre waterfall. At the top it was a very nice fall. Not spectacular but nice. Annabelle took off her shoes and was walking on the rocks (in a safe area) when she slipped and slid in on her bum into the water. So now she was soaked from the waist down. We sat and breathed in the cool air coming off the falls. There were more people than I would have liked but I guess it's popular because it's paved. I saw lots of families wih kids in strollers. Unbelieveably, Annabelle had to potty again! I asked with a sense of dred what she had to do...pee. Thank God. I just sat her back in the puddle she had fallen into and told her to go for it. There were people drinking from the stream earlier in the hike. I was thinking 'I wouldn't do that...' and here's why! You don't know what some kid has done in that water at the top before it gets to you! Now she is usually really good at not having to pee a lot but here she'd gone twice with one poo for good measure. Ah well at least they were well hydrated.
We then decided to drive to Cades Cove stables for horse riding. On the way we came across a traffic jam. Bear! Kind of far off but cool to see. I don't know why I thought the stable was open til 6 or 7 but when we got there it was closed.
So we drove home, had spaghetti, me and Innes got in the hot tub nekked then watched some tv. Innes was sweet the rest of the evening as I had given him a small treat for his small stretch of not complaining. He told me that after my shower he was gonna cuddle with me on the couch (after he cuddled with daddy). Then later he said that when he grows up he's gonna build me a treehouse (we were watching tv show about tree houses) with 3 bathrooms for us all to use.
Great day in the smokies! I wonder what this insect noise is outside? It sounds like a chorus - like someone sawing. Each half of the woods alternates this sound that's like 3 fast shakes of maracas. So it's like sawing because half the woods makes the maraca sound and then is quiet while the other half makes the same sound. It sounds like its coming from up in the trees. It's probably frogs but do frogs know how to throw their voices? Maybe cicadas or something.
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