Cade's Cove

Today we decided to visit Cades's Cove, the most visited place in the Smoky Mountains.  If a Tuesday in the middle of September was any indication, I would not want to be there in the summer.  Cade's Cove is a historic pioneer settlement with many old  houses and churches and other buildings.  Since I like history, I thought we could see all the buildings and do the hike we had planned.  I quickly realized we could not do both.  We saw a few of the buildings and went to the trailhead for our hike.

Early morning views, before the fog lifted

Entering the park

 Some of the best views are from the back.

I love the old churches and those were among the buildings in the settlement we chose to see.

The flower-filled meadows were as pretty as the mountains.

We were hiking to the falls.  Five miles round trip.  The estimated time was 3-4 hours.  We made it to the falls and back in three hours.

The river was beside us the entire way.  The flowing river, in perfect harmony, sang a melodious song to me the entire three hours.  Sometimes pianissimo and other times fortissimo.  Of course, as we neared the falls, the music crescendoed to an all out fortississimo.

Most of the time I could only hear the river singing to me.  But at times, there was a clearing where I could see the river, beside me or below me.

There were many bridges to cross on the way to the falls.

 This one was easy.

This one and three more just like it were not quite so easy.  Yes, I crossed them all.

 

Then at times, the trail looked like this

At last,  Abram's Falls.  These falls only fall twenty feet, but the volume of water more than makes up for the shorter height.

 

Even though I had decided we did not have time to do the hike and see all of the settlement, I still wanted to see the mill.

And, I wanted to see it quickly.  After a five mile, three hour hike, I really wanted to see some food.  And, I didn't care what kind.

Another great day in the Smoky Mountains.