Hilary's Random Reflections . . . .: A Walk to Remember

Last week, our family went to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for a short vacation. We had been told that a place that shouldn't be missed there is Cades Cove, an area in the western part of the National Park, described as "a lush valley surrounded by mountains" and teeming with wildlife.

The first trip we took, on a Thursday afternoon, was not quite a success. By car, we followed an 11-mile one-way paved road making a loop around the cove. At first, we were thrilled by the beauty of the wide-open meadows and bluish-green mountains. The speed limit around the park is 20 MPH, which is very reasonable. However, we soon found ourselves stuck behind cars which were going, when they were going at all, at about 5 MPH. For one interminable 15-minute stretch, we were going 0 MPH, stuck behind a line of cars with nothing to see but exhaust fumes. It turns out that some lucky tourists way in the front of the line had spotted a bear and had just stopped their cars in the road. Although there are numerous pull-offs on the side of the narrow road and many signs urging motorists to use them rather than stop in the middle of the road, most of the tourists did not seem to care much about the people coming behind them. So by the end of our visit ... it had taken more than an hour to travel the 11 miles ... I'm afraid we remembered the annoying traffic jam and the inconsiderate tourists more than the beautiful scenery.

HOWEVER, my husband and I had both noticed the signs saying that Wednesday and Saturday mornings Cades Cove is closed to cars until 10 AM, and since great minds think alike, we found ourselves saying the next day, "I'd like to go back to Cades Cove tomorrow morning when there are no cars and bike around it (my husband) or walk around it (me). Two of our three children were enthusiastic as well.

Long story short, we returned the following morning. Although we were initially dismayed by the crowds of people in the parking lot at 8:00 in the morning, fearing that we would again be facing a mob scene on the road -- this time with walkers and bikers instead of cars -- such was not the case. My husband and two kids rented bikes, while I set off on foot. Because I knew I wouldn't be able to cover 11 miles in two hours, I chose to use the second by-pass, Sparks Lane, which cut off the westernmost loop of the road and made my walk a more doable 8 miles or so. Judging from the crowds of bikers in the parking lots, I was afraid the road would be like the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk on a Saturday night, but I found that as soon as I started walking, there was usually no one in sight. I passed only two other walkers during the two hours, and although bikers would pass me every once in a while, they were not intrusive ... in fact, I felt so alone at times that I was actually glad they were there ... especially when I saw the bear!!

Here's what I saw during my walk: