Early August Trip to Smokemont Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Well, I'm retired so I can pretty much head off and take a trip any time I want to. Carole, however, is only semi-retired. She already took her 401k and pension (both of which she invests), but won't be eligible for Social Security for about 15 months or so. Therefore, she wants to keep working until 62.

This past week we headed over to the Great Smoky Mountains for a three-night camping trip. We opted to stay at the Smokemont Campground which we'd never used. Generally we utilize the Elkmont Campground on the other side of the Park. While the trails and scenery and more spectacular there, the traffic can be monstrous beyond description due to that area's proximity to the semi-urban hellholes known as Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Our last long stay at Elkmont was made difficult because of the bumper-to-bumper traffic bleeding into the Park from Gatlinburg.

Not wishing to face that kind of headache again, we opted for the Cherokee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is subject to less traffic. As it turned out, we made a good choice. The campground is much nicer than we had anticipated. Also, the three  big elk herds that have developed since the repatriation of the species to the parklands have concentrated themselves in enclaves between Cataloochee Valley (where the first animals were released) and the rest of a triangle created by the Qualla Reservation, and Balsam Mountain Campground where it borders the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The herd numbers 240-250 animals currently, and the three main herds are each about 50 to 60 elk with smaller populations interspersed throughout this general area. So if you want to see the elk, the best places to camp or visit are Cataloochee Valley and Campground, Balsam Mountain Campground (the highest campground in the Park), or Smokemont Campground near Oconaluftee where the absolute largest herd congregates regularly. In fact, it's a rare day that a visit to Oconaluftee in the afternoon will not net you at least a peek of at least a few of the giant deer in the later afternoon.

While we were staying at Smokemont we did some hiking, and took some drives to nearby towns. As usual, we cooked most of our meals, but did try a couple of restaurants by driving outside the campground to Bryson City (about nine miles away).

For some reason, despite the fact that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has more bears than ever (at least 1500 black bears now make their homes there), I have gone about three years without seeing so much as a fleeting shadow of one. We were really hoping to be able to take some photos of a bear, but no such opportunity presented itself. A ranger told us that one did come through the campground while we were not at our campsite. So it goes.

We're thinking of heading back to the Park in October for a trip to see the Fall colors. We did that in 2019 and caught them at their peak, which was a first for me. Before that I would get there either too early or too late to see full Fall splendor. But we're also thinking of flying up to New England before Christmas, so that may be what we end up doing instead of pulling the trailer to Cherokee.

As always, we'll have to wait to see what happens.

Part of the herd of 60 elk that showed up at the Oconaluftee Historic Site the day we arrived.

This young bull was stoically enduring a heavy rain at Balsam Mountain Campground.

The only time I've seen a calf nursing in the Park.

Mona Lisa smile.

My son and I photographed this same cow in June of 2020 when we drove up to spend two days in the Park. I recognized her from the scars on her abdomen.

"Peek-a-boo!"