Cades Cove Weekened - Day One Continued - Bear Photos

Jim and I began the gradual but long descent of Gregory Ridge Trail. Five miles is a long distance with no way to mark your progress, no intersections, no artifacts, no GPS (okay, okay, I'll learn how to use it by next time!), just a watch that seemed to have stopped. Jim is always faster than me on the uphills with those cyclist thighs, but I am actually slightly faster on the downhill. We were trucking along, heads down to watch our footing, and I was about 20 paces ahead when Jim called my name. When I turned around, he was looking up the steep slope near the ridge and he whispered, "Bears!" I snuck back to stand beside him (to protect him, of course). He had seen a small bear climbing a dead tree trunk. I didn't see the small bear, but I saw a large black shape turn, take a couple of steps, and then Mama spotted us and gave us a good stare for three hundred hours, three seconds in real time. Then she moved out of sight and we heard a very strange, loud sound, something between a growl and a shriek and a snuffle that every human and animal child since time began understands to mean, "Get over here RIGHT NOW!" Then some crashing steps and silence. Were they still there or had they gone over the ridge?

Here is my photo of the bear: (pretend...)

Oh well...best I could do in the heat of the moment. I think I actually took a picture of the inside of my pocket. I'll get one next time!
Seeing the bears was not scary, but it taught us a valuable lesson where to look - up! From then on we scanned the slopes and stumbled a lot. Our feet were grateful to reach the car.

Forgot to mention - at the lower elevations the white rhododendrons were blooming profusely near the ground, overhead, absolutely everywhere. (This would prove to be the case on all three hiking days.) Along Parson Branch Road the bushes bloomed three stories high. The buds are a gorgeous pink and then fully open to beautiful white with a pink tinge. It was difficult not to take a photo of every single bloom! (Click on photos to see full screen.)

We headed back up Parson Branch Road, stopped at the Cades Cove Visitor Center with the multitudes, and got in line on the merry-go-round one-lane loop road to go back to our campsite. Patience was required in amounts larger than I possessed, as cars do stop in the middle of the road when they see something interesting, people leaning out of car windows to take photos. Often they stop in front of the friendly signs that say, "Please be courteous and pull over."

Back at camp we cooked a fabulous noodles-and-canned-chicken extravaganza and walked to the little camp store for soft-serve ice cream. This is a great family campground, kids riding bikes everywhere, burgers cooking, campground TV going (i.e. campfires), and it makes for great people-watching. Makes you feel good that some folks still take their kids outside. I guarantee you those kids will always remember their family camping trips. Jim and I gave our feet the rest of the day off, sat and read our books until it got dark, and then got packs ready for another adventure tomorrow. Another happy hiking tip: earplugs!