Adventures Around Town

We had read that there was a three-mile trail (1.5 miles each way) between Islands Park in town and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. We decided to drive to Islands Park and walk out along the trail to the Visitor Center. This was an unfortunate choice. We found the trail easily, but just north of Islands Park it ran along city sidewalks and then seemed to disappear. We scouted around, doubling back and rechecking, and still we couldn’t find the trail.

A stray dog decided to adopt us, and he followed us across a footbridge back to the main road. About this time it began to shower, and we realized that we had not brought our umbrellas. Fortunately, the shower passed very quickly. We stopped in a business that advertised restrooms and then walked to the Chamber of Commerce.

Our map showed the trail continuing from the north side of the parking lot there, but we couldn’t find it. At first the young man inside looked blank when we asked, but then he gave us directions to follow the sidewalk north a way to where he assured us the trail proper began. We walked north but never found the trail, so we decided to turn around and walk back to the truck.

 Along the way we saw some sights:

 

We took our picnic lunch over to Islands Park and enjoyed eating beside the river and watching the ducks. After lunch we decided to try to locate a laundromat. The only one we found mentioned on the web was at Cherokee Crossing, so we drove there. No laundromat, but we decided to do our grocery shopping at the Food Lion while we were there. We’ll hold off and wash our clothes in Gatlinburg.

Then we drove out to Mingo Falls. The drive takes you out into the countryside and seems longer than expected before finally you see the Mingo Falls Campground sign. There doesn’t seem to be sign for the falls itself.

We parked and started up the trail to the falls, which is only ¼ mile. However, 130 wide steps climb up from the parking lot, making the hike a bit more strenuous. Then we walked along a path skirting giant boulders, which reminded us of Franconia Notch in Vermont. We had to maneuver under another large fallen tree. When we turned the corner and caught our first sight of the falls, it was breathtaking.

Here again the rhododendrons dominate the foliage and must put on a spectacular display earlier in the year to frame the dancing ribbons of water as they cascade down the rock face, breaking into thousands of individual icicles of water. What a sight!

We had time still to stop at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center to visit the Farm Museum, a collection of mountain farm buildings brought to this site from around the area to represent a typical farm of the turn of the last century.

Buildings include a log home completed in 1900, a barn, a chicken house, corn crib, and such. I was surprised by the “beegums”—slices of hollow gum logs set up to hold bees. Most families had a beehive or two to provide honey for sweetening. Another surprise was the “apple house,” designed to store and preserve apples, which grow well in the mountains.

Most of the farm is just the buildings with informative signs. However, there are some living parts of the display: a kitchen garden, chickens, and a couple of pigs. Altogether it was fun and informative to tour the farm museum.

We saw the beginning of the Oconaluftee River Trail running by the Farm Museum. A sign there indicates that the trail runs from the Visitor Center to the boundary of tribal land (definitely not into town). Tomorrow morning we’ll walk the trail from this end. It looked inviting as it wound along the river.



This morning the generator worked fine, bringing the SOC to 100% before we left on our outing. We are being very conservative with electricity to avoid having to run the generator any more than necessary. We’ve been using the propane heater in the mornings, since the nights have been pretty chilly. That doesn’t use any electricity at all, fortunately.

I’ve felt quite primitive as I use workarounds to avoid the microwave, like our campfire toaster. The microwave is one of the best modern conveniences for my money.