Summit of Gatlinburg

... was running late, so we got a ride with the dad of "Thin Mint" another thruhiker. I hung out with Willard until dad arrived at Gatlinburg. We picked up some fast food and got the keys to our cabin for the weekend.  I am very much looking forward to a ...

... from the snow.  we ran out of water at one point and had to boil snow to make water.  finally got into Gatlinburg. rented a room and headed right to all you can eat shonneys.  we did some damage there and grateful's mom picked up the ...

... in a couple of nice ones. Hi-lites include encountering a family of 4 black bear at our cabin AND hiking upto the summit of LeConte Mountain via the Alum Cave Trail (superb hike covering 11 miles roundtrip w/2800 feet of elevation gain). Pics & ...

... winding back on ourselves through the forestry. Whilst it was difficult there was a sense of achievement when we finally arrived at a summit to see a fantastic view of the park.  Pigs and subzero temperatures forgotten about, we began the decent with ...

... and found a cute little town with stores galore! There were Old Tyme Photo stores, generic tourist stores (T-Shirt stores with Gatlinburg written on clothes), Irish/Scotland store (for my Mom), many restaurants (like Dick's :ast Resort and Texas ...

... hot and humid to eat outdoors.  The next morning we drove over to the Smoky Mountains Arts and Crafts Community just outside Gatlinburg. There were several stores that had the typical "stuff", but there were also some shops that had some very nice ...

Early the next morning dawned crisp and cold in Gatlinburg. There was frost on the ground and it would be hours before the sun would reach our campsite, so, we showered up and headed out. Moving up into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, you drive ...