Scoping out Grotto Falls.

We were determined to hike that damn Trillium Trail to Grotto Falls. That meant we had to get to the trailhead before 9 am. The weather apps were indicating overcast, but the morning broke clear. That was our good omen. I was now confident that we’d find a parking spot near the trail.

At a tad before 9 am, we found that parking spot, just a 1/10th of a mile from the trailhead. We did it. The early bird gets the worm.

Trillium Trail is 1.4 miles of uphill climb, just like Laura’s Falls Trail. That meant a pleasant 1.4 mile downhill stroll on the return. Nothing sucks more than the reverse - going down first, then up on the return. We trudged uphill with a smile on our faces.

Again, the falls were nice, but it was the trail that captured us. We have become completely entranced with the Smoky Mountains. The best way to experience the Smokies is up close on the hiking trails.

On the return walk, streams of people were plodding up the trail. We wondered how far they had to park from the trailhead. A very long ways as we found out when we reached our van. No wonder they were wearing such grim faces.

There are two tiers to Grotto Falls.

The lower falls.

The upper falls.

We could walk behind the falls.

We loved the multiple wafer-thin layers of rock near the falls.

As I was walking, I looked up just in time to avoid running into this large colorful spider.

Again, driving the spectacular Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

The Smoky Mountain National Park is a big oval measuring some 55 miles east-west and 20 miles north-south. Only one road, highway 441, travels through the heart of the park. It bisects the park on a north-south trajectory. Yesterday, on our way to, and from Bryce City, we traveled the entire highway 441 through the park. It is a gloriously beautiful road.

There are a series of scenic roads that circle the park. Today, we tackled the Foothills Parkway, the Dragon’s Tail, highway 28, and highway 19 to complete the whole western side of the park.

The Foothills Parkway was supposed to travel along the entire northern half of the park. The park service ran out of money, so only the northwestern quadrant was completed. Too bad, because the road is outstanding. This is a wilderness route with no development. It runs along a ridge that overlooks the Smoky Mountains to the south. Scores of overlooks offer countless chances to stop and be overwhelmed by the beauty.

The weather deteriorated, but held. A thick overcast rolled in, threatening rain. Although it darkened the sky, it never did rain. And, although the drab lighting made photography difficult, it didn’t interfere with the beauty that registered in our vision. What the camera couldn’t adjust to, our eyes did.

The weather grew heavy, but the views were still stunning.

The Foothills Parkway ended at the tiny village of Chilhowee, which is where we picked up the incredible Dragon’s Tail. This is a narrow twisting steep road with sharp 180º switchbacks every 100 feet. The curves are deeply banked making it fun to whip around. We saw several hot sports cars playing on the road looking like they were doing time trials for a race. And the scenery - WOW!! This 10-mile stretch of road is my all time favorite stretch of roller coaster pavement in the whole world.

Highway 28, along the southern border for the park, returned us to the normal curvy up and down mountain road with tremendous scenery - ho hum. Along the way, we stopped off at the Fontana Dam, holding back the huge Fontana Lake Reservoir. The dam is one of the tallest east of the Mississippi.

Fontana Dam was given the job of filling up a long deep hollow. We were surprised to see that the reservoir level was very low, not unlike the distressed reservoirs we saw on the Colorado River system last Spring. I wonder if Tennessee and North Carolina are also experiencing a drought. It may just be a yearly draw down for the winter.

Behind the dam is a marina. We saw a mess of houseboats moored at the docks. We could easily imagine ourselves house boating up and down the water filled hollow.

When highway 28 petered out, we took highway 19, yet another twisting scenic roadway, past Bryce City to good old highway 441. By the time we returned to V-Jer, we made a complete circle around the western 2/3rds of the park.

It was a wonderful way to spend a dreary day.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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