In the ‘land of the blue smoke,’ a family’s introduction to the great outdoors, without crowds.
Fog settles near sunset in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Formed between 200 and 300 million years ago, the Great Smokies are some of the oldest mountains in the world. By Mary Winston Nicklin March 15 at 7:00 AM Somewhere along the precipitous gravel road that leads to the Cataloochee Valley, a sign looms large. “No cellphone service.” For hyper-connected, news-addicted individuals such as ourselves, this could have caused panic. But on this humid summer day, we tried not to bat an eye.
When we pulled up at the campground, a tarp served as a lean-to protecting the friendly park ranger Buck and his wife from the drizzle. Here in the backcountry there are only 27 campsites, compared with the 200 sites that can be found at other Great Smokies campgrounds. We were surprised to see that a few RVs had braved the road, but rules regulate the timing of the generators. They must be shut off by 8 p.m. to combat noise pollution.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular one in the United States, having welcomed 11 million visitors in 2017. In comparison, the Grand Canyon attracted 6.2 million visitors. Areas such as Cades Cove in Tennessee and its Loop Road are notoriously clogged with cars and swarming with people.
The delight of breakfast in the great outdoors: Pancakes sizzled in the pan and coffee brewed on the camp stove. Along with a rising mist, the morning brought a mission. Buck the ranger told us about black bear cub sightings, and we were going to make our own attempt. The cubs love climbing the gnarled apple trees, vestiges of the pioneers’ old orchards, next to the road that runs through the Cataloochee Valley.
Below, the woods are damp and lush with rhododendrons. Log footbridges cross trout-stocked streams, and the ruins of old homesteads peek out from the vegetation.
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