Hike to Laurel Falls

 

On Monday we decided to head on into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and do a short little waterfall hike.  The hike was listed as 1.2 miles and the trail was paved.  It ended up being a little much for Sophie but she was a trooper for most of it.  The recent dryness probably didn’t do much to help the waterfall but it was still a neat end to the hike and the views up were nice looking back into the valley.  Near the end it got pretty steep off of the trail but I wasn’t real comfortable because Sophie didn’t want to hold my hand all the time and I was partially terrified she was going to hop, hop, hop right off the cliff.  The waterfall had an area toward the top where the trail ended that was open on the rock and you could sit and watch the upper fall and Sophie loved to throw things into the little pool.  Others could also scramble to the bottom and meander among the big rocks but we weren’t that adventurous with the little ones. 

My favorite part of the hike was probably sitting on the rock by the water pool and just finding rocks and twigs for Sophie to throw.  It was nice to listen to the water running and even though it was kind of busy up there, when you’re that close to the rock most everyone is behind you and the water drowns out their noise – it was like we were just hanging out by ourselves.  Hopefully she’ll gain an appreciation of the wilderness so we can keep up our outdoor adventures as a family!

(Sophie loves to pick up sticks when she’s outside and say “chugga-chugga choo”.  I think she’s pretending it’s the whistle that the train lost in Diego when the Bobo Brothers steal it and run down the track with it.)

(Not sure what these guys were looking back at but this is a little drink break on the trip up.  We had to stop once on the way up and once on the way down for Sophie to pee on the side of the trail.  I couldn’t get her to look at me in any of these pictures; that’s kind of a new thing for her, usually she’s such a ham for the camera!)

 
(You can’t see it in this view back down a little valley, but most of the trail and woods was full of very large rhododendron plants.  I can only imagine that a hike in the early summer would be absolutely beautiful.  It didn’t seem isolated to this area so I imagine the whole park is full of the wonderful color of the blooms in June or so.)

It was great to get out and see the Smokies up close and personal – we even got a chance to see some butterflies but that was about the extent of the wildlife on the trail.  My pictures are really rough, I was pointing with one hand while trying to hang on to Sophie with the other, sometimes not even stopping!  Still including them because having something to look at and remember is better than nothing.  Plus, if it’s fuzzy then it just matches my memory!

 
After our hike we went out to Mel’s Diner for a little lunch and then back to the cabin for some pool time.  Another great day in the books!

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