A Bear in the Smokies
Our vacation destinations have been limited to proximity and affordability. We usually go to either the beach, Gulf of Mexico, or to the Smoky Mountains, North Carolina or Tennessee. We like to go to the mountains in the winter and the beach in the summer.
When my oldest daughter was 11 months old, we switched things around and went to the mountains in the summer. We had a wonderful trip as we ordinarily do. We stayed in Cherokee, North Carolina and did the usual tourist activities one does with a small child.
One afternoon we decided to follow one of the hiking trails. This is one of our favorite activities when we are in the mountains (it’s cheap too). Since we had been on many hikes in that area, Steve found one on a map that we hadn’t been to and we set out to find it.
We followed an unusually winding road. Most roads are curvy in the Smokies but this one was a little more difficult in it’s steepness and hairpin turns. I told Steve at one point that I was able to shake my own hand as we went around a bend that doubled back to where we had been seconds earlier only on a higher level. This road was also unusually deserted, no tourists coming or going.
When we got to the parking area at the beginning of the trail it also was deserted. I asked Steve if he thought it was still a good idea to follow this particular trail. I can always conjure up absurd ideas as to why something out of the ordinary (to me) is happening. I’ve hiked many trails in the Smokies and this was the first and only time that I’ve had a trail to myself.
Before we started out, I had to go to the bathroom. Luckily, the trails in the Smokies are more often than not equipped with bathrooms and this one was. I didn’t like going into this deserted, block building out in the middle of nowhere by myself but if I were going to be comfortable on the hike I knew that I must. My thoughts turned to every Friday the 13th movie I had ever seen. I literally had to talk myself into going into the bathroom. Once inside I looked in every corner and both stalls before I felt comfortable enough to use the bathroom and then I hurried to get out because my imagination had my nerves on edge. I could just see somebody or something coming through the vent (6 x 6 inches) above my head.
When my oldest daughter was 11 months old, we switched things around and went to the mountains in the summer. We had a wonderful trip as we ordinarily do. We stayed in Cherokee, North Carolina and did the usual tourist activities one does with a small child.
One afternoon we decided to follow one of the hiking trails. This is one of our favorite activities when we are in the mountains (it’s cheap too). Since we had been on many hikes in that area, Steve found one on a map that we hadn’t been to and we set out to find it.
We followed an unusually winding road. Most roads are curvy in the Smokies but this one was a little more difficult in it’s steepness and hairpin turns. I told Steve at one point that I was able to shake my own hand as we went around a bend that doubled back to where we had been seconds earlier only on a higher level. This road was also unusually deserted, no tourists coming or going.
When we got to the parking area at the beginning of the trail it also was deserted. I asked Steve if he thought it was still a good idea to follow this particular trail. I can always conjure up absurd ideas as to why something out of the ordinary (to me) is happening. I’ve hiked many trails in the Smokies and this was the first and only time that I’ve had a trail to myself.
Before we started out, I had to go to the bathroom. Luckily, the trails in the Smokies are more often than not equipped with bathrooms and this one was. I didn’t like going into this deserted, block building out in the middle of nowhere by myself but if I were going to be comfortable on the hike I knew that I must. My thoughts turned to every Friday the 13th movie I had ever seen. I literally had to talk myself into going into the bathroom. Once inside I looked in every corner and both stalls before I felt comfortable enough to use the bathroom and then I hurried to get out because my imagination had my nerves on edge. I could just see somebody or something coming through the vent (6 x 6 inches) above my head.
posted by Tammy | 9:00 AM
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