2017 - 2018 Trip to Pick Up the New Escape 21 & More

Day 249

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Tuesday, April 10, 2018 - Cades Cove Campground, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, TN, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 6,982.6 Towing Miles For the Trip

Each night is getting a bit warmer. Still cold mornings - it was 39°F this morning, but the furnace didn't come on until 10:30 last night. Around 10:00 I headed for Porter's Flat to check out the wildflowers a neighbor suggested I see. Of course, that meant driving through Gatlinburg again, something I wanted to avoid, but the traffic was fine - I only had to make a few stops at crosswalks. Better than in the park. They are doing roadwork on Little River Road, making it only one lane. A very long wait for our turn through the construction.

I stopped at the Sugarland Visitor Center to pick up an official park map, and found an internet connection through my Verizon Jetpack. Since I had the laptop with me, I posted the last couple of day's pages, a Happy Birthday to my granddaughter Zoe, whose birthday is tomorrow, and checked for new bills. Only 75 emails waiting, most ads.

I tried to find the Roaring Forks Motor Trail, and while I thing I found the start, I never got to the one way part of the drive. Instead, I got a tour of the hillside overlooking Gatlinburg. Very narrow, steep, windy roads that are hard to believe are 2 way. Lots of new construction on the hill.

After I found my way back to US 321, I continued east to Greenbriar Road. Another narrow, 2 way road that turned to gravel after a couple miles. It follows a pretty stream, and eventually ends up at a parking area for the Porter Creek Trail. I'm not sure I actually found the Porter's Flat, but the trail had a pretty stream with lots of cascades. I stopped to photograph a bunch of them, and eventually reached a field of white wildflowers. Along the way I also photographed Trillium, mostly white, but a new version I've never seen - a yellow trillium, at least that is what a hiker called them. A couple other purple flowers, and some interesting bridges. The longest single log bridge was solid, but at least one group of hikers turned back rather than crossing it. It was a bit of a drop to the water below, at least compared to an earlier one, and fairly long, but it didn't bother me at all. Now if there weren't handrails, it would be a different story!

Along the Little River Road
Porter's Creek
Porter's Creek Yellow Trillium Porter's Creek
Porter's Creek Purple Flowers Purple Flowers Wildflowers
  Trillium Wildflowers Wildflowers
   
Interesting Bridge Some Deer    

 

On the way back I stopped at the Gatlinburg Post Office to mail the grandkid's cards, and filled the truck tank across the street. Since it was a gas station attached to a Food City, I picked up a couple of things, including some fried chicken for dinner.

I got back to the trailer around 6:00, found the batteries fully charged (recharging the laptop & doing today's photos & page had dragged them down by 8 amp hours).

Dinner was a fried chicken leg & thigh, along with more coleslaw.

Until Tomorrow -

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Last Update: May 9, 2020