Day 29: Exploring the East Side of the Smokies

We have polished off another Costco-sized jar of peanut butter (#2 for those of you keeping track). We are trying to spice up lunch with some lunch meat, at least for Rob and me when we are eating at the RV.

Today, Saturday, was the best of the best. We had a late start, needing to get spirits up before departing, but still made it out close 10. The destination this morning was Clingman’s Dome, the top-mentioned place to visit when at the Smokies. The windy roads were so much easier to do in the car vs. the RV. When we got there someone was just pulling out of a spot: perfect timing, so we were already off to a great start.

Before starting the hike, the boys needed to climb on some rocks to get warmed up. Rob captured these adorable photos. Next we took the paved half-mile mile path up to the dome.

Fun facts: it is the highest point in Tennessee at 6,643′, it is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, and on a clear day you can see 100 miles and 7 states (Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama). It is also on the monarch butterfly migration path Aug – Oct, but we didn’t see many.

We had a beautiful clear day and heard many people talk about how they had never been there when it was so clear, so we felt super-lucky that we had such great weather on our one day to do it. The leaves are ever so slightly starting to change thanks to the cold weather these last couple days. When we woke up it was 39 degrees at our campsite and 25 degrees at Clingman’s Dome.

On the way back we decided to take the Appalachian Trail and Clingman’s Dome bypass trail for a more scenic one-mile route back down. It was really fun to be able to say we have now hiked a half mile of the Appalachian Trail. The scenery and lack of people was a really nice contrast to the droves of people we saw on the paved path up.

Back at the parking lot we enjoyed lunch with the gorgeous view. As we were leaving there were over 50 cars waiting to park and cars parked a mile away, so our timing had been perfect. Leaving Clingman’s Dome we passed the Newfound Gap parking lot with the Tennessee/North Carolina border that we had stopped at a couple days earlier. There were again cars parked all over the sides of the road, and the parking lot was packed, so we’d timed that well, too. We would have never been able to get our RV in there today.

The next stop was Chimney Top Trail. Rob’s parents used to live in the area and recommended we visit the area. The kids were less than thrilled for another hike, but as we drove into the small 10 car parking lot, again, a car pulled out giving us a perfect parking spot. A quick look from the parking lot and we saw a bridge over a river so we were all-in to at least check it out, especially when we promised they wouldn’t have to do the 3.5 mile hike.

This stop ended up being the highlight of the day. We all loved climbing on the rocks and hanging out by the river. Cooper took the chance to try out our hiking water filtration system, which was a big hit. Cold water fresh from the river was amazing to enjoy.

We had one more stop planned, the Oconaluftee River trail to see some elk. Cooper had really wanted to do this hike so he could use the filter, but since he had just used it and we saw some elk from the road we kept heading home. The final stop ended up being at the National Park sign for a family picture.

Once back at the RV the boys had their screen time playing Hill Climb Racing Thanks again for the intro, Dylan 😉 Then we headed to the pool for some swimming while Rob stayed back to try another Instant Pot recipe. He said he had it dialed in this time and we would have a successful meal. Dinner was a flop, more raw chicken after the allocated time (Rob said he put too much chicken in there). After more time, it was salvaged, but we now both need some serious motivation to try the Instant Pot again, especially after we both had flashbacks to overcooked green beans after tonight’s meal. It is incredible how different they taste cooked in a pan for 6 minutes vs. 30+ minutes.

After dinner we built a fire for our 8th night of s’mores and had a first: Nicholas cooked his marshmallow long enough to actually see some golden coloring. Since they are usually still cold when he puts them on the graham cracker, he was thrilled. Then we headed to the jump pillow for a family jump followed by checking out the campground’s Halloween decorations. Once we were back at the campsite, we built our biggest fire to date so we could use up all the wood before changing states. Cooper loved the fire, and Nicholas loved seeing so many stars.

The night wrapped up with my annual Seattle Children’s Hospital Touchdown for Tots virtual auction. Technology is amazing, letting me join and work on the event from an RV in North Carolina. We were able to give Children’s $60k after our event, the biggest contribution we have made in 14 years of this event. For those of you curious, our website is: https://www.touchdownfortots.com/. Next year’s event will likely be virtual again, and I would love for you to join me!