2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
2014 Trip across the US
2015 Trip to Alaska
2015-16 Southwest Trip
2016 New England Trip
2016 - 17 Southwest Trip
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - Cades Cove Campground, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, TN, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 6,982.6 Towing Miles For the Trip
Each night is getting a bit warmer. Still cold mornings - it was 39°F this morning, but the furnace didn't come on until 10:30 last night. Around 10:00 I headed for Porter's Flat to check out the wildflowers a neighbor suggested I see. Of course, that meant driving through Gatlinburg again, something I wanted to avoid, but the traffic was fine - I only had to make a few stops at crosswalks. Better than in the park. They are doing roadwork on Little River Road, making it only one lane. A very long wait for our turn through the construction.
I stopped at the Sugarland Visitor Center to pick up an official park map, and found an internet connection through my Verizon Jetpack. Since I had the laptop with me, I posted the last couple of day's pages, a Happy Birthday to my granddaughter Zoe, whose birthday is tomorrow, and checked for new bills. Only 75 emails waiting, most ads.
I tried to find the Roaring Forks Motor Trail, and while I thing I found the start, I never got to the one way part of the drive. Instead, I got a tour of the hillside overlooking Gatlinburg. Very narrow, steep, windy roads that are hard to believe are 2 way. Lots of new construction on the hill.
After I found my way back to US 321, I continued east to Greenbriar Road. Another narrow, 2 way road that turned to gravel after a couple miles. It follows a pretty stream, and eventually ends up at a parking area for the Porter Creek Trail. I'm not sure I actually found the Porter's Flat, but the trail had a pretty stream with lots of cascades. I stopped to photograph a bunch of them, and eventually reached a field of white wildflowers. Along the way I also photographed Trillium, mostly white, but a new version I've never seen - a yellow trillium, at least that is what a hiker called them. A couple other purple flowers, and some interesting bridges. The longest single log bridge was solid, but at least one group of hikers turned back rather than crossing it. It was a bit of a drop to the water below, at least compared to an earlier one, and fairly long, but it didn't bother me at all. Now if there weren't handrails, it would be a different story!
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| Along the Little River Road | |||
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| Porter's Creek | |||
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| Porter's Creek | Yellow Trillium | Porter's Creek | |
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| Porter's Creek | Purple Flowers | Purple Flowers | Wildflowers |
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| Trillium | Wildflowers | Wildflowers | |
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| Interesting Bridge | Some Deer | ||
On the way back I stopped at the Gatlinburg Post Office to mail the grandkid's cards, and filled the truck tank across the street. Since it was a gas station attached to a Food City, I picked up a couple of things, including some fried chicken for dinner.
I got back to the trailer around 6:00, found the batteries fully charged (recharging the laptop & doing today's photos & page had dragged them down by 8 amp hours).
Dinner was a fried chicken leg & thigh, along with more coleslaw.
Until Tomorrow -
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Last Update:
May 9, 2020