Even though we were back to the cabin or good today at 3 pm, it was quite a productive day. Grandma spoils us here with good breakfasts, and this morning it was French toast, bacon, and strawberries - great fuel to have before a long hike.
My parents decided to take a rest day and stay at the cabin, so we left the dog with her human grandparents and headed out to the park. We were hoping to find this road that would take us to the park with a short cut, but we could not find the road, despite seeing a sign that it was a mile and a half away at some point. Nothing is marked very well around here, we've noticed. Because we missed that turn, we went in through the Townsend entrance again and set off for Meig's Creek trail. The drive was so pretty with the river rushing alongside the road. We made it to a parking area for the The Sinks, a rushing water area where I think people fish and maybe even swim at their own risk.
From here, we hopped on the Meig's Creek trail. It is a 3.6 one way trail. We had reservations to zipline at 1:30, so we were limited on how much time we could spend in the park, meaning we couldn't do the 7.2 mile total hike but would go in for a ways and then turn around. On Will's more detailed map, we saw there were falls less than halfway, so we aimed for that. The hike started off pretty steep, climbing higher and higher on switchbacks. Then it leveled off at the top, only to go back down again. Eventually, we came to a creek crossing. These are fun, if not a bit treacherous, because you have to find the rocks that aren't going to move, making you step in the water. There is no real danger because the water is not deep, but no one wants to hike with a soggy shoe. We ended up crossing the creek 3 or 4 times. We were about an hour in and knew we should turn around soon, but decided to give it 5 more minutes. Our gamble paid off because we found the falls. They weren't huge, but very pretty and a great spot for a family selfie.
On the hike to the falls, we only passed one family. I love when we have the trail to ourselves, but I was surprised that it wasn't more popular. Then again, we are pretty good at finding less traversed hikes that are awesome. But apparently more people do know about it because we passed a lot more on the way back. I guess that's good. All in all, a great hike. No major wildlife sightings, but we did see several two inch centipedes. Eleanor = not a fan.
We got back on the road and set off to find a creek spot for some wading/swimming. We ended up finding a cool spot with easy access to the river and a safe current. The kids changed into suits in the van, while Will and I simply opted to put our water shoes.
The water felt amazing on legs that have been doing a lot of uphill walking. Water shoes certainly help, but many rocks are mossy and very slippery. I managed to stay upright. The kids made some rock formations and explored. But then about 10 minutes in, several families who were clearly traveling together, descended on the area. They were nice, but boisterous, and the peaceful time was over. But, the one guy seemed familiar with the area and showed the kids how they could jump off this big rock into a deep section of the river. Ethan wanted to, and it looked deep, but we didn't really want him to jump unless we were sure. So these young kids from Louisiana tested it out for us. Once we felt okay about it, we let Ethan try it. :)
Ethan jumped at least 5 times, and Eleanor did it several times, too. Soon, though, we had to leave to make sure we weren't late for ziplining. It was also getting quite crowded with Louisiana folk. When we left, there were 7 cars from LA. We think they may have all been from the same baseball team, likely in town for a tournament.
On our way out of the park, we looked for the road that we had wanted to take into the park today but missed. We found it by accident (see early about poor signage), and it turned out to be a great little shortcut. And when we made it to the main drag where we missed it earlier, we were sure to write down details that would help us know how to find it again. The sign did seem hidden.
Because of the short cut, we got to ziplining a bit earlier than expected, which was great because the other two people in our party were also early. Once the guides were ready, the kids and I set off. We tried to convince Will to come, but he said he was a-okay on the ground. Our funny tourguides took us up the mountain in the back of a pickup truck (part of the fun!), and from the top, we hooked on to our first line. Basically, one guide goes first, then the guests, who are each "caught," on the next platform before the other guide comes to meet us.
The first line didn't seem much different in height from the zipline tour we did at home last month, so I wondered if I had been swindled. But that next several were very high up and long. The views were super cool, though each one went by quickly. The kids did great and enjoyed it. And we were gone less than an hour, giving Will a time to just relax and look through some guidebooks.
We came back up to the cabin, then, so we should relax and walk the dog. After their walk, Ethan and my dad got in the hot tub. Ethan had only been in a few minutes when he came to the window, pantomiming that they'd seen a bear and to come out. We did so, only to discover the bear, which Ethan thinks is a cub was gone. It had crossed right through the woods about 20 feet from us and crossed into the neighbor's driveway. The rest of us were sad to have missed it. Will suggested we take Mione out again, this time with bear spray.
About 500 yards away from our driveway, we passed another driveway and saw a mama and two bears just passing through. I quickly got Mione out of sight while Ethan frantically grabbed his phone to grab some pics and video. I was able to snap a quick picture and video, too. After they passed over the driveway, though, we couldn't seem to locate them in the woods. We are thinking they went up a little higher.
I texted my mom, who then came down the driveway to come check it out, but we didn't get too far together before turning around because she was only wearing sandals that were not conducive to steep incline walking. Now poor she and Eleanor have yet to see a bear. I still can't believe we did and my lack of fear upon seeing them, too. My biggest concern was that if Mione saw them and got spooked and barked, causing mom to get protective of her cubs. Fortunately, Mione didn't seem to smell them because when she was out of sight, she didn't seem to notice anything. Will has noticed how deeply she sniffs here, seemingly finding all kinds of new smells to log. But if she smelled the bear, she did not let on thank goodness.
On the docket for tonight will be tacos (it's Tuesday!), some games, and, hopefully, an early bed time. I am still not sure if Will and I are going to try to bike Cade's Cove tomorrow since we know even if we get there super early, we may not get a bike, but I would like to try. We shall see!
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