Great Smoky Mountains: Day 2

The second day of our trip to the Great Smokies was full of car driving.  It wasn't intentional, I just underestimated the size of the park.  I guess I was used to the national parks in southern Arizona, which are much smaller than the GSMNP.  Oh well, the kiddos did great!  Even Dan and Kate didd pretty good, though we did wish there was some kind of "force-field" that we could have gotten as a dealer-installed option to keep Kate from touching Dan.  He's learned to fight back, which is not a good thing this early.

We started the day with a trip across the park via the Newfound Gap Road.  It is a road that bisects the park and travels in a general North-South direction.  As we traveled about, the views of the mountains covered with deciduous trees in the midst of their fall color change was breath-taking.  Really, it was amazing.  God is most assuredly an artist, as the colors that make up the fall are not something a mortal could come up with.  We got there too early for the peak of fall color, but it was still really nice.  As I look at the picture, I realize that the photo just doesn't do it justice.  It seemed to look much more red, orange, and yellow in real life.  Hmm.

After arriving at the trailhead to the summit of "Clingman's Dome", we all piled out of the car. Dan took his favorite spot in the backpack. I've gotten quite used to the weight of him being in the backpack, which is roughly 40lbs.  It's a good thing I was used to it too, because along the rather steep mile long hike to and from the summit, I ended up carrying Kate in my arms, with her huggin my chest.  I'll admit, I was winded when we arrived at the top.  Oh was it worth it though.  We were above the clouds, like poking our heads out from under a white blanket.  The peak, which stands at 6643 feet, is the third highest peak east of the Mississippi.  It's crazy to think how perspective changes when there isn't a plethora of western-Rockies-type mountains readily accessible.  I thought the mountains were huge, but then I have to temper that thought with what is in the west.  It's true, they don't have the height that the Rockies do, but at least they are covered with trees.

The trail to and from the summit is actually a portion of the Appalachian Trail, so we can truthfully say that we've hiked the Appalachian Trail (or at least a portion of it)  Here's proof!

The way back down was tougher.  The extra weight on my knees was too much, so Melissa had to carry Kate for a portion of the way down.  The extra weight of Kate is a better option than to listen to her whining.  She tends to whine quite a bit.  Even Dan recognizes the fact that Kate's a whiner.  He'll say, "Whining.  Kate.  Whining."  Too funny.

Here's another photo of me with Dan in the pack.  I took the picture myself, so it's a little rough.

In a nutshell, day #2 was also awesome.