19 August 2013
This afternoon
we headed to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, watched the 20-minute park video,
and toured the museum displays, devoted to the plants and animals of this area.
Usually the text with such things is painfully dull, but this time it was so
entertaining, written in colorful first-person by Robert G. Johnsson, the
author of “A Naturalist’s Notebook.” The accompanying sketches from the same
book were just as charming. About a third of the displays also included stuffed
critters and preserved plant specimens.
We got a
tickle out of a conversation we overhead in the museum. A girl of about 10 was
trying to find the display for a particular insect called a bald-faced hornet,
so she could answer a question in her Junior Ranger book. A park volunteer was
trying to help, but didn’t know offhand where the display was. “To me it’s just
another bug that should be killed,” said the volunteer. That attitude was so
refreshing! But we’re afraid her attitude will get her signed up soon for
mandatory retraining to get her back on the official National Park Service
script!
From the
visitor center, we headed into Gatlinburg, a terribly touristy town we learned
to detest from a previous trip here 14 years ago. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature
Trail, which is part of the national park, starts out from Gatlinburg or we
would have avoided this town. The motor trail is a one-way scenic drive of five
miles, with many stops to see old cabins, an old mill, and meandering creeks,
all enjoyable.
We also
hiked the Laurel Falls Trail which is 1.3 miles one way, fortunately uphill
when you’re feeling fresh and downhill when you’re not. Another hiker, more
nature-aware than we are, spotted a mother black bear and three or four of her
cubs below us in the forest. As the mama bear came gradually closer and closer
to the trail, Great Husband decided it was time for us to get out of there, but
the mama bear must have had the same idea about then. We caught one last
glimpse of a cub climbing awkwardly over a fallen log as both the humans and
the bears departed.
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| Cabin along the Roaring Fork Nature Trail |
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| Laurel Falls |
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