At 6:00 am, Andy and I climbed in the car, dropped off the baby, and headed to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Our mission?: conquer Mt. LeConte at 6,593 ft. It is the third highest peak above sea level in the park, but the tallest mountain in the Eastern United States from its immediate base (where you see it rise up from the ground you're standing on) to its highest peak (5,301 ft). May I make a suggestion? Be a little more in shape than I was before attempting to climb to the top...this does not include walking only during pregnancy, then no exercise, then walking behind a stroller several times a week...good...but not good enough - I'll share a little of our story through pictures:
Here we are ready to go, standing HAPPILY in the parking lot.
About 15 minutes into the hike, we were greeted by this gorgeous site (Alum Creek)...talk about highway to Heaven. For almost the first hour, we hiked along this creek, which was breath-taking in parts (literally and figuratively). Rachel was fine for this part.
And this part...
...but pretty much from here to the top wasn't much fun for me. Andy was a great team mate. He encouraged me a lot and didn't complain once about my turtle pace and huffing and puffing. I'm telling you, my legs and lungs have never hurt so badly before, but I was determined to get to the top of this mountain.
Along the way we passed under "Arch Rock," an archway of black slate rock under which stairs have been cut into the rock and a steel cable inserted beside them to assist in your climb. That was pretty cool. Half way up, we paused at Alum Cave Bluffs: huge, orange clay bluffs reaching eighty feet in height - quite spectacular.
After that (where most people stop and turn around), Rachel adopted the take a few steps and then pause for 15-30 sec. approach, so the last half took a little longer.
Near the top, we suddenly entered a "tunnel" of Fraser firs.
It was beautiful, much cooler in temperature and FLAT! =)
We finally made it to the top after 4 hours (which actually isn't bad since they say it takes anywhere from 6-8 hours round trip: then I didn't feel quite so bad...plus...I was at the top.)
Here we are on the cliffs at the peak.
Andy cooked a gourmet meal on his stove and we scarfed it down. It consisted of rice, chicken, curry, cranberries, coconut and cashews - quite delicious and much appreciated.
We enjoyed resting for about 1 1/2 hrs at the peak before beginning our descent. It was quite "smoky," yet still breathtaking (figurative only this time).
The landscape was beautiful.
Here I am, hiking along a cliff on the way down, much happier than I was on the way up.
Near the end of the trail on the way down, we paused to soak our feet in the creek. Or, if you were Andy, you would have submerged your entire body into the FREEZING water - it really was so cold that I only left my feet in for less than a minute before they stung so badly I had to take them out.
After a terribly wonderful and exhausting hike, we drove back into Pigeon Forge, picked up a frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies and popcorn at Kroger (bad - I know - but it was vacation), and checked into a little one room cabin in the woods.
And here's Andy, returning with another key to the cabin. They were electronic key cards: we were unloading the car, walked out to grab another bag, and the door closed behind us...with the keys inside on the table. Fortunately, we had an extra set of car keys in the car, so we were able to drive back to the welcome center and get another key. Hiking back after a long day would not have been much fun since we were both in pain. By then, we were moving around like we were 180 years old (ok...at least I was...maybe Andy was only 110).
We had a lot of fun. The cabin was beautiful, with a private bath, king-size bed, mini-kitchen/dining area, couch and TV, and a screened in porch with a swing and a hot tub. It felt wonderful to soak in a hot shower and then eat and watch TV while lying in bed. And if you've never eaten breakfast in a hot tub in the mountains, you should try it!
On Sunday, we took a scenic road home - which I'm sure would have been beautiful if it hadn't been so cloud-covered...we could vaguely see the outline of the mountains. We ate at an apple orchard for lunch...they had a large store with all kinds of fresh veggies and homemade preserves , sauces, and dressings, as well as a restaurant.
Christopher was happy to see us when we arrived home Sunday, late afternoon...and we (especially Mommy) were happy to see him too.
He wanted to be held and read lots of books at bedtime, so we stayed up a little later. Spoiled? Yes, we know.
*intense concentration* Christopher loves to turn the pages.
"Oh! Hi, Daddy. Do you want to read my book with us?"
And that was our blessed weekend get-a-way, which also helped us accomplish a goal of leaving Christopher and spending the night away by ourselves before he was a year old. Yeah!
(Thanks one more time, Babu and Nana. )
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