Catawba River Stroll

Sunday, we packed up and left the cabin and had one more great breakfast at the diner, then started making our way back.  In Morganton, we got off the highway and stopped at Catawba Meadows Park for a stroll along the Morganton Greenway.

We followed the trail upstream and passed some nice wildflowers.

There was ironweed and turtlehead blooming along the trail.

In about a mile, after passing the River Village, there was an overlook with a nice view of Catawba River.

Just past here was a spot where panning for gold was permitted. 

We continued on and took Freedom Trail back over the river to Freedom Park and turned back.

After our hike, we made Mexican for lunch at Las Salsas and then drove the rest of the way home.

Deep Creek Loop Hike

Friday was our last day visiting the Smokies.  We had breakfast again at the diner and then parked at the Waterfall Trailhead in Deep Creek.  We made another quick stop to see Tom Branch Falls.

The water level was a bit low, but it was scenic in the morning light.

About a mile up the trail, we got on Indian Creek Trail and stopped to see Indian Creek Falls.

We scrambled around a bit at this one to get some pictures and let Harper out to play some.

Back on the trail, a scramble path led down to the top of the waterfall.

We continued on the Indian Creek Trail for another mile.

There were some wildflowers blooming along the trail.

At Loop Trail, we turned left and headed up towards Sunkota Ridge.

There were hearts-a-busting flowers along the trail.

It headed up to Sunkota Ridge Trail and then back down.  Some very yellow honey mushrooms were growing on a tree.

At the bottom, we got on Deep Creek Trail.

We went up a short ways and then turned back and headed downstream to complete the loop.  We turned on the Horse Trail to extend the loop a bit.  When we got to Juney Whank Falls, the sun was shining right on it, so didn't bother with any pictures.

From here, we headed into Bryson City for our last night.  We got dinner from the Rice Wagon food truck and drinks from Mountain Layers Brewing.  At the cabin, we made another fire and enjoyed the hot tub before starting to pack up.

Oconaluftee Hikes

Thursday, we had breakfast at the diner again and then headed to Cherokee.  We saw a groundhog just before entering the park.

And after entering the park, we saw several elk just past Oconaluftee Visitor Center.

In one of the fields, there was a large herd, including calves.

The male seemed like we wanted to get frisky but his female was not in the mood.

We continued on and parked at the far end of Smokemont Campground.  From here, we got on Bradley Fork Trail which followed its namesake on an old road.

In about a mile we got on Chasteen Creek Trail and followed it to Chasteen Creek Falls.

It's a small waterfall, but rather scenic.  A brown puffball mushroom was growing on a log.

We went a little further up Chasteen Creek Trail and then turned around.

We stopped at the campsite near Bradley Fork Trail at a very scenic spot on Chasteen Creek.

Some beautiful lobelia was flowering here.

We saw more mushrooms on the hike back.

A polyphemus moth caterpillar was crawling along the trail.

There was yellow jewelweed flowering as well.

We finished our hike around lunch time and had snack at the car.

Then we drove to the visitor center and parked.  First, we took a stroll through the Mountain Farm Museum.

Davis House was built from American chestnut prior to the blight.

The large barn was at the other end of the site.

Next to the barn was a pig pen and the two pigs started waking up as we watched.

After visiting the museum, we walked down Oconaluftee River Trail.

There were some megansers in the river.

The trail continued to the park boundary in Cherokee.

There were some wildflowers and mushrooms along the trail.

As we got back to the parking lot, I saw a red-spotted purple butterfly nectaring.

We finished our hike around dinner time.

We drove back to Bryson City and had barbecue for dinner and made a small fire at the cabin.

Rainbow Falls

Wednesday was Harper's first birthday.  We had breakfast again at Everett Street diner and we let our server know it was her birthday.  When we finished breakfast, the owner stopped and had the entire restaurant sing Happy Birthday to her.  She was very excited.  Afterwards, we headed back to Gatlinburg.  On Monday, Harper had dropped Emmy, her favorite toy at the aquarium.  Luckily, she was found and they held on to her, so headed back that way.  Upon entering Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we saw a bunch of turkeys in a field near Smokemont.

Continuing to Gatlinburg, we stopped at the aquarium to retrieve Emmy.  Since we were here, we headed into park along Cherokee Orchard Road.  The Rainbow Falls Trailhead was completely full, even on a Wednesday, but there was space at the overflow lot.  It was a steep climb up with a baby in the backpack, but not too bad with plenty of switchbacks.  We saw some deer on the way up.

After a couple miles, we crossed LeConte Creek on a footbridge.

In over 2 miles, we crossed a small tributary of LeConte Creek with a little waterfall.

We took a short break here and talked to a guy heading up to Mount LeConte.

Right before the waterfall, we crossed the creek again on a stone bridge.

Right after this, we came to Rainbow Falls.

It was kind of foggy and made the waterfall look cool.

I climbed up the side for a view but the rocks were wet so I didn't scramble out too far.

There were some mushrooms growing on a dead log up here.

After some pictures, we hiked back down in a light rain.  There was a huge snail along the trail.

The rain had stopped by the time we got back to the car.

From here, we made a stop at Sugarlands Visitor Center and Harper picked out a stuffed bear for her birthday present.  Then we started driving back.  Chimney Tops was completely blanketed in clouds.

The clouds opened up as we crossed over Newfound Gap into North Carolina.

We stopped at the upper Deep Creek Trailhead and a couple other spots on the road for a view.

There was a little bear foraging along the road.

We made one final stop at Cliff Branch Falls.

The water level was low, but it was worth a quick stop since we were passing by.  Leaving the park, we stopped at Native Brews for dinner and then headed back to Bryson City.