Gatlinburg...part II

The day after Dollywood, we decided to hit the trails and hike to some water falls. Well, we only made it to one, and that took nearly 3 hours! We found a trail that was "paved" so we could push the stroller, or so we hoped. We ended up hiking 2.5 miles swapping carrying kids. Well, Hannah was always carried or pushed, Nicole either walked, was carried, or was pushed. It took a long time, but there were some adventures to be had.

First of all, a 1.25 mile one way hike up a mountain is not the most fun thing for a 3 year old, note to self! haha. We had many...many...Many "breaks" to take, every 30 seconds or so it seemed. It also wasn't particularly easy for a pregnant lady either, and little Hannah was starting to get into the worst of her cold, so we had to stop fairly often to wipe her little nose. It definitely was not the happy go lucky day we had the day before at Dollywood, haha!

A view through the open trees

My studly outdoors man

Taking a break and looking pretty

About halfway up the mountain, a lady coming down asked us if we had seen the bear yet?

Um..Bear? There are REALLY wild animals here in the Smoky Mountain National Park? Did the keeper forget to put them in their cages this morning? I did not sign up to see a bear. No...we had not seen a bear, and I would be happy not to thank you very much. However, dear hubby did not feel the same. The thought there was a bear in the area spurred him on as he excitedly encouraged us up the mountain. I, however, was ready to turn around and go back to the car, perfectly content to NOT see a bear.

However, it was good this lady happened upon us because I was now aware of the dangers lurking behind every corner. I made it my mission to spot any wild animals before they spotted me (or my sweet little children). Just a few minutes later, there I found him...the bear, quietly mingling on the side of the mountain, looking for berries I assume.

Actually, it was quite a site. He was far enough away that I didn't feel threatened, but close enough we could see him. We stopped several other hikers and pointed him out and just stood and watched him for several minutes. However, as he mingled, he certainly got closer and closer, making his way into uncomfortable territory for me. As Hannah started crying more and a passer by told me to keep my kids close, they are just what that bear is looking for, I quickly grabbed my kids and my husband and decided it was time to continue up the mountain. Again...I would have rather gone back to the car, because surely our paths would cross again on the way down, right? Either way, he...the bear...was gone for now.


Da Bear

A short time later, we stopped for another break and Nicole laid down on some rocks and played in a little stream. As I nervously looked around for more predators, Jeremy took the opportunity to enjoy the mountain and took pictures of his daughter playing:-)

Nicole DOES NOT LIKE BUG or critters of any sort. She freaks out when there is a fly in the house or a lizard on the patio. I knew she would completely spas and hurt herself if she saw what so close to her little hand as she played. A salamander had his little head poking out of a rock, and Nicole's hands and face were right there by it. She never saw it. It's hard to see on pictures and video (and I'm sure impossible on the Internet) but I shared them anyway. She was so close to the salamander, that it actually went back in it's hole because she almost hit it. I'm glad she never knew it was there.

However, on our hike, we did see a few hairy caterpillars that completely freaked her out. She said later that she would like to go see the waterfall again, but not those hairy worms. hehehe.

Ah....just as I thought, you can't see it here, but the salamander is literally an inch from her right hand.

On we trudged, pushed and carried until finally....what we were looking for. The waterfall. Really, it was beautiful. I wish I would have been in better spirits at that point to enjoy it more. I hate to have regrets and ruin moments...and this was definitely one of them! I was so worked up about all the crying, whining and potential bears that I was satisfied with a drink, a snack a picture and a hike back. Pretty silly. We actually stayed and hung out at the waterfall for about 30 minutes or so. I was also nervous someone (i.e. Nicole or Hannah) would slip and fall. There were far to many signs about death by falls around for me to enjoy myself with those little ones. What would I do without them?

Looking down from the waterfall

The waterfalls (and our only family shot the whole trip)

Under the path at the water falls.

This video is about 2 minutes. Hopefully you'll be able to see the bear a little bit. There is also a portion at the falls if you want to see it in real life and the last bit is Nicole playing at the little stream. You see the salamander hide inside it's whole when she nearly fell on him. Hopefully the resolution is better today.