Captivated. Cades Cove was by far my favorite area to see wildlife while visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park this past September. I saw something each of the times I drove the loop. I've written about my first visit to the cove where I saw a bear here, but my other visits were just as fulfilling. Not only was there an abundance of wildlife, the whole area is full of log cabins, a mill house and old roads used by those who once called the cove home. Can you imagine what it would have been like to live there 100 years ago? Relying on yourself and your neighbors, able to get out of the mountains only by a few wagon roads pecked through the forests surrounding you.
On my second visit to the cove I just wanted to see another bear. It was getting towards evening and I knew I needed to get back to camp and get dinner going. I drove through rather quickly, and although I didn't see a bear I was treated to a coyote running across one of the fields, then right behind my car as he darted across the road and disappeared into the forests on the other side. Bear, coyote, same thing, right?
My next visit to the cove was actually thought out. I wanted to stop at each of the turnouts on the road, explore the old log cabins and see what the community that called these mountains home was like. I spent an entire afternoon there, going in to every cabin, climbing rickety staircases and entering the dark mill, where I purchased some cornflour ground right there in front of me. I also discovered a bat roost in one of the old cabins set back a little bit from the road. I noticed their droopings on the floor in a dark corner of the cabin and went over with a flashlight to investigate, and got real quiet when I realized they were bats. I showed the family who was also in the house with me, and they left rather quickly, leaving me to gaze at the tiny little faces that looked bewildered in the beam of my flashlight.
Yet another random side-trip through the cove was a little more productive; I saw another bear! A big male, from what the park ranger told me. He was far off the road in the forest, and since night was falling the photos I tried to take without flash didn't turn out, but that's ok. Bear number two! Cades Cove, you didn't disappoint.
My final trip through the cove couldn't be beat. I wasn't even on the cove loop road for fifteen minutes before I hit the traffic jam that indicated the presence of wildlife. Slowly but surely, the cause of the jam came in to view: a mama and a baby bear, right on the side of the road!!! They were engrossed in foraging for acorns and took no notice of the crowd of cars and people jammed tightly together, all trying to get photos of the adorable little ball of black and brown fluff. All too soon I was forced to keep driving, leaving the sow and cub to the people in the cars behind me. But I was ecstatic; I'd seen four bears, hadn't had any bad encounters, and it was my last day in the park. I finished the cove loop and left for my campsite. Content doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about my Adventures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I can't wait to visit again!
What I'm listening to: Dumbledore's Foreboding by Nicholas Hooper
No comments:
Post a Comment