Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains

May 2005

Introduction

I went to the Smokies for a long weekend with my friend Sherri and her husband Ron in May 2005. We left Terre Haute on Thursday about 5 pm and stopped for the night in Lexington and arrived in Townsend, TN, about noon on Friday and took two short hikes on that day.

I have organized 89 thumbnails that you can scan and click to enlarge only those pictures that interest you. I hope you enjoy many of them, and I hope you also enjoy some of my explanations.

First, we hiked 2 miles round trip on the Middle Prong of the Little River. It was described as a rollicking mountain stream with several cascades on the map and that was a good description--it was very pretty.

my friend Sherri & I

pictures of my trip

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Ron

some of the cascades on the Middle Prong trail

Then we drove to the trailhead for the Laurel Falls hike--also on the Little River. This was a 2.5 mile round trip slightly uphill hike. The trail was paved and had a 11-point interpretive trail map that was very interesting. it rained a little but wasn't a problem. On this trail we saw some rhododendron (it wasn't in full bloom yet, but we did see some early blooms) and, of course, we saw Laurel Falls.

We did 2 more hikes on Saturday and had more rain. It rained several times during the day, and I probably put my rain poncho on and took it off 7 or 8 times, but at least it never was a downpour just a gentle shower that didn't last long. Both hikes were waterfall hikes and were in the same general area of the park--south of Gatlinburg. The first was a 5.4 mile round-trip hike to Rainbow Falls. The hike was rated strenuous, but it wasn't bad other than the fact that you were climbing, but it didn't seem overly steep.

views of the stream as we hiked

Rainbow Falls--the waterfall didn't have much water so it was a little disappointing.

trillium

how the roots of this tree were growing around the rock was very interesting

these mushrooms were also interesting

We then drove to the trailhead of the 2nd hike and stopped to view the Smokies as we drove.

Our goal on the 2nd 2.4 mile hike was Grotto Falls, and we saw this very pretty tri-level cascade along the trail.

Views of Grotto Falls

The Ephraim Bales Place

It would be difficult to find a better place to imagine mountain life than this. Picture yourself growing up here as one of Ephraim and Minerva Bales' nine children. Look around. This was your world. Imagine yourself and 10 others living in this small cabin. Ephraim Bales owned 72 acres. He farmed 30 and the rest remained wooded. This was like many farms along the Roaring Fork, where families scratched a hard living from a very rocky land. The two halves were probably built at different times around 1890-1900. The larger half was the living area; the smaller, the kitchen.

cabin from another angle

This small barn with a drive through area for wagons was used to store corn.

an inside view of the storage area

another cabin

a mill

Alfred Reagan's Place

Sunday was a hard day--the distance was the same as Saturday--8 miles--but 5 miles of it was VERY difficult. We not only climbed over 2,000 feet, but the trail was full of slippery roots and rocks that we had to pick our way over and around and in a couple of places there wasn't any trail you just wound your way through huge boulders and a stream of running water and climbed up the best you could.

The Little Pigeon River was beautiful almost every time we could get a good view of it as there were an endless stream of cascades. We also had a continuous light rain ALL the way up the trail. It finally stopped raining while we were trying to get a good view of the cascades, and we ate lunch before starting down--and praise the Lord the sun started shining. These are pictures I took on the way up the trail.

Ramsey Cascades

These are pictures I took as we hiked back down the trail. It was the same trail, but the views looked different to us in the sun and with a different perspective

on the way home on Monday we drove through Cades Cove

A "cove" in Smoky Mountain vernacular is a relatively flat valley between mountains or ridges. This particular cove is a showcase for some of the most inspiring natural and cultural treasures that the Southern Appalachian Mountains have to offer.

For more than 100 years it was a great place to live. Now around two million visitors come each year to drive the 11-mile one-way Loop Road. The Jobe family became one of the first to settle there in 1821. The land was rich and fertile and produced abundant crops. Grist mills probably were the first industry and replaced the tiny "tub" mills which ground slowly, ground only corn and really only "cracked" the corn.

Of all the wild foods Cove people gathered, none was more important than the American chestnut. They grew from the lowlands to near the top of the mountains, and some families harvested up to one hundred bushels and took them to Maryville and Knoxville to sell. Chestnuts were even more important to bears and other wild creatures. So bears were among the big losers when an Asiatic fungus brought to the East Coast early in the 20th century killed virtually all American chestnuts in their native region between 1925 and 1940. Animals that had thrived on sweet chestnuts had to substitute bitter acorns, and since acorn crop failures are frequent, the bears suffered and died.

The population reached 132 families in 1850. When someone died, someone would go to the church of the deceased and rang the bell to get attention. Then after a pause, the bell would be rung slowly--one ring for each year of the dead person's life. Those listening usually did not have to ask for whom the bell tolled. They knew who was sick and knew the approximate ages of people in the church.

The states of Tennessee and North Carolina brought most of the land now in the park and gave it to the federal government for park use, and in 1934 the national park was established officially. Not everyone left the Cove; however, those who agreed to accept a little less money for their land could remain on until they died, but their descendants could not. Many who stayed later changed their minds and moved out before they died. The last school closed in 1944, and the post office closed in 1947.

2 deer we saw in a field

Primitive Baptist Church

The church was established in 1827 and this building replaced the original log one in 1887.

inside of the Primitive Baptist Church

Methodist Church

A blacksmith and carpenter built the original church in 115 days for $115 and served many years as its minister. This building replaced that log building in 1902. The two front doors usually indicates the church follows the custom of men sitting on one side and women on the others, but this church didn't follow that custom. The two doors are there because the church borrowed the building plans of another church.

inside of the Methodist Church

Missionary Baptist Church

A group of Baptists expelled from the Primitive Baptist Church because they favored missionary work formed this church in 1839. The building dates from 1915. The church closed in 1944.

These 2 and the next 2 pictures show the inside of the Missionary Baptist Church. Note the stone cross on the floor in both of these pictures.

Cades Cove would have been a very beautiful place to live.

As we were driving the loop road, we came to a bottleneck where parked and stopped cars literally blocked the road. We got out to investigate and found out that a mother and 3 cubs were in the field adjacent to the road.

A horse or mule pulled the long pole of this sorghum mill in a circle to squeeze sugary juice from stalks of cane. The cane juice was then boiled down into molasses in a nearby furnace. Other native sweeteners besides honey and maple syrup were the nectar made from sourwood, basswood, and chestnut trees.

The Gregg-Cable House is believed to be the first all-frame house in the Cove.

two views of an old drive-through barn

Grist Mill with the water wheel beside it, and the flume which is also shown carried water from the dam to the top of the mill wheel.

Inside the grist mill grain is fed into the mechanism that grinds it into flour. John Cable built the water-power grist mill and also a sash sawmill and used the same wheel to provide power for both mills. A son operated the mill well into the 20th century. Today, the Natural History Association operates Cable mill as an historical exhibit.

samples of corn, corn meal, wheat, & wheat flour

an old farm wagon

Cantilever Barn

Large barns were common, and the overhand in cantilever barns such as this one provided shelter for animals as well as storage space for farm equipment. Cantilever construction (counterweighted overhanging beams) originated centuries ago in Europe.

This type of barn, with the drive-through in the center and the stalls on each side, was more typical in East Tennessee than the cantilever barn. Two men with pitchforks, one on a wagon load of hay in the drive-through and the other in the loft, could transfer the hay to the loft in a short time. The drive-through also served sometimes as a storage place for farm equipment.

another example of a drive thru barn

for pictures of other vacations return to the Vacation Photos page