Grayson Highlands w/Kids

 6/22 - 6/24/21 (2 nights)

2021 Bag Nights: 12

Third kid trip in June, this time to the Grayson Highlands to climb on rocks and see the ponies. 

All cell phone photos

The weather forecast looks good, but the wind made it feel a lot colder. Still really nice day for hiking.

An assortment of fungus

Moon is poking up

There are lots of cows in the summer. I guess the Forest Service allows them as a way to keep the area open, but they are a little annoying.

Lots of cows

The ponies are more entertaining

Next morning, the sky looks a little grey, but we are going hiking.

Lots of rocks to scramble on, the kids had a blast

Cows and ponies 

We woke up the next morning in the clouds and decided that it was time to head towards the car.

My son decided to hike in his fleece PJs because they were warmer than shorts.

Across the AT on the way to the car

One last field with flowers before we get to the car. 

A very nice trip, not a lot of miles, but great views and the kids had fun.

Cades Cove Biking

 6/15 - 6/18/21 (3 nights)

2021 Bag Nights: 10

The NPS has implemented "bike" days for Cades Cove in the Great Smokies National Park. Now the gate is not opened for cars on Wednesdays in the summer. My kids and I headed to Cades Cove to take advantage. We spend three nights, did a little hiking, enjoyed the biking and did a tourist horse ride. A great couple of days. 

Beautiful weather for our bike ride.

Lots of flowers

The Methodist Church

The Missionary Baptist Church

We saw three different bears feeding in the fields

Walked over to check out the sunset. I got this photo and my battery died. Of course the spares were a mile away in camp. 

Smokies Fireflies and kids

Little River Trail

6/7 - 6/9/21 (2 nights)

2021 Bag Nights: 7

The forecast looked a little wet, but we decided to give it a shot. 

We started off with a light drizzle along the Little River Trail, but it was never very heavy and the rain quit after about an hour. 

The first couple miles of the Little River trail is an old railroad bed, so it is very easy walking.

It parallels the Little River ...

... and crosses on solid bridges. 

Wildlife

Tulip Poplar

Mountain Laurel

After about 2.5 miles the road disappears and we were hiking on a trail.

We got setup at Site 30 and talked to the people who were already there. 

Swallowtail

Large fungus

At one point, there were lots of bees everywhere. They did not bother us, but they were everywhere. 

Time to head home

We ended up not seeing any synchronous fireflies. I think we were at too high of an elevation. The people that camped near us hiked about a half mile down the trail and saw fireflies, but I did not want to do a night hike and river crossing with the kids. Instead of synchronous fireflies, we saw Blue Ghost fireflies. These were really neat, because they are a glowing blue color and the light up for 20 - 30 seconds at a time, so there were blue streaks floating around.