Aiming for the Blue Ridge Parkway!

Smoky Mountains Post

May 18, 2015 – Doughton Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

We left the Natchez trace in Mississippi a week ago and spent a couple of nights at Lake Guntersville in NE Alabama.  Huge campground on a big lake, first time the water was clean enough to go swimming in, since we were on the Rio Grande in Big Bend!

From there it was time to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I’ve got to say that towing a rig like the R-Pod with a vehicle  like the Toyota Highlander.  These parkways (no commercial vehicles and 45 MPH speed limits) are just the ticket, gets the best gas mileage of the trip and is just the right speed for these setups, despite the inclines on the Blue Ridge Parkway!  Arrived in Bryson City, NC (end of the Blue Ridge Parkway), where Connie and I had been rafting with college friend Eric Nies some 35+ years ago.  Still a youthful, outdoor activity driven community down here.  Saw rafting and kayaking  along the Nantahala River Gorge (our campsite at the Smoky Mountain Meadows Campground off the Alarka Road was hosting the Georgia Canoe Club during our visit, as well as 70 boyscouts from Charlotte, NC!)

We hiked in the Deep Creek area of the Smoky Mountain National Park, and saw some good waterfalls, and tons of Butterflies (not quite as many as we saw down in Texas).

We also drove in to the Clingmans Dome road (spectacular winding roads and views).  And hiked into Andrews Bald for the “spectacular view”.

Did you see it?  We didn’t either, up in the clouds while we were there.  Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet is the highest point in Tennessee, and you can drive right up to it leaving a ½ mile hike to the summit and observation tower.

After Bryson City we set out on the Blue Ridge Parkway, passing it’s high point.

Stayed in our BEST CAMPSITE EVER in Pisgah Campground, but watch out for the Bears!  (Luckily we didn’t run into any.)

And you know there are bears in the area when Campsite #1 features a Bear Trap!

Next we continued North along the BRP stopping at Linville, for Linville Caverns, neat rock formations a good 30 minute tour, and “blind trout” in the river that flows through it.