Day 26: 11 Miles, Baby!
Another Wednesday, another chance to explore a new state. Rob took the day off again, and the boys did their minimal school requirements for the day. Our goal was to experience Cades Cove, on the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountain National Park.
Every Wednesday in the summer, they close the Cades Cove 11 mile scenic loop to motorized traffic. Today was the last day of the season, so we jumped at the opportunity, even though before today our longest family bike ride had been only five miles.
We packed a lunch and snacks and headed out. We got a later start, so we worried about parking, but after a quick loop a spot opened up right in front of us. Things were looking good.
A few miles in, we stopped to check out a bear cub playing in a field off in the distance. We then crossed rushing water over the road about 6″ deep and 8 feet wide–not sure how the walkers got by there. The many creeks we saw were very full from the recent rains. There were also old wooden churches and other buildings from the late 1800s to keep the ride interesting between the beautiful tree canopies and open fields.
There were some snacks needed, but we made it to the halfway point and enjoyed lunch near a river by the visitor center. After that, morale was still quite good. We picked up some more National Park coins and headed out to finish the loop.
The 11 mile route was pretty hilly. Cooper powered through all of them and Nicholas opted to walk up the longer/steeper ones. Towards the end Igave Nicholas a power countdown to see if he could power up the hills, and he was doing it! We were bunched up with a group of walkers that we would pass and be passed by during our rests. I think they were motivated by our hill games.
Near the end of the loop the boys were feeling done, but we were impressed they made it 10 miles first. We were SO proud of them! The last mile of the loop we saw horseback riders and even a horse drawn carriage, which helped pull them over the finish line (figuratively, anyway). We had planned to go back for horseback riding, but after doing the scenic loop, we decided to save that for another location with some new scenery.
We returned home for an exciting couple of hours of doing laundry, finishing up school work, and hitting the local grocery store. We enjoyed some ice cream by the river at the campground to celebrate the big 11 mile ride.