Camping in Tennessee

Dan and I had an awesome time camping, fishing, hiking, etc. The fish eluded us which was disappointing, but we had a awesome camp site right next to Gee Creek. The pancakes and cherry pudgie pies were my favorite part of our menu! We hiked on the John Muir Trail. I guess he hiked through Tennessee on his way to California! Our campground was real close to the Hiwassee River which is a recreational fishing, tubing, kayaking area in the Cherokee Forest. It was very beautiful. Lots of rivers including the Ocoee where the 1996 Olympics took place. We hiked 6 miles on the Chestnut Mountain right above the Ocoee. Lots of beautiful mushrooms grew in its deep forests. We found a couple favorite spots of the locals. One was the Gee Trail which had a deep swimming hole called the "Blue Hole". We got caught in rain so we didn't get to try it out. The other spot was off of the Cherohala Skyway. We rode down along the Tellico River and just beyond the Bald River Falls there was a small falls called the Little Tellico Falls. It was full of teenagers jumping off the rocks--very exciting.

After 5 nights we headed for the Smokey Mountains where we camped by the Little River. We tried out the Appalachian Trail, and hiked up to Laurel Falls where we were treated to a bear sighting! A mamma and her 2 cubs were eating blueberries down the trail from us. Danny and I had just read "Blueberries for Sal" which is about a mamma and her cub eating blueberries! We awoke to a big downpour which didn't dampen our spirits but we did have a wet load coming home!