With our trip coming up quick I thought this would be an appropriate blog post. We are known as the travelers in our families. So much so that we usually get asked "so where are you going now?" without saying we are going on a trip soon. Every year we make our way to one place in particular at least once. The Great Smoky Mountains. The mountains that so rightfully got their name from the mist that sometimes resides on them (hence the opening picture). This has been a tradition of ours since we first got together. I mean we were only together for two months when John was like "You want to go to Tennessee?" Ever since it just has us coming back. Why? I'll tell you.
Some people love going to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park because it is one of the few national parks you don't have to pay to get in. Some love the resorts and moonshine that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge has to offer. Others come for the sport of fly fishing or hunting. Some for hiking the many and many trails. Others just want to mosey through the park and see what they can find. We, I feel, have a deeper connection with the park in some way. I couldn't describe it until now. Until I tried to fully understand it.
You ever just stand in the middle of the forest by yourself? No people around. No noise from cars running up and down a road in the distance. No houses to be seen from feet away. It's just you on a mountainside in a dense forest. This forest consists of balsams. Yes, the same balsam that is used in candles you like to buy during Christmas time to make your house smell more festive. There is nothing more magical and real than smelling balsam trees in a forest. Especially when you are half winded from hiking up the mountain.
This forest is especially magical/whimsical after a rain. The world is covered in saturated greens and browns. You smell the earth around you. It's pungent with a deep soil smell you can only find that deep in the forest. Moss lines any bare space it can find. It's like a runner for the ground on the sides of the trail. Lichen covers the dead looking trees. In the distance you may hear a crow caw. See the tiniest of streams that brave the journey over the trail. May hear a squirrel rustling in the leaves, or the warning chirp of a chipmunk.
Have you ever camped on the side of the mountain? See the stars litter the sky? Hear a Barred Owl in the distance caterwaul to it's partner? If you are very lucky some early mornings you can hear an elk bugle. Get up super early just to see the sun rise over the mountains. The beautiful pinks and purples. The early morning birds starting to wake from their perches.
You ever see an elk bugle? Their ghostly sounds echoing over the mountains. The ripple of muscles on the big bulls body. The way he holds himself with his antlers just so on either side of his body. If it's a cooler evening you can see their breath in the light.
Or hear the drumming of a Roughed Grouse in the middle of a forest? Just when you thought you were alone you hear an unfamiliar noise of wings beating on a log. You ever pass by a salamander, but then come back to admire him? All of these moments we've had. Some of the best moments in our relationship we have shared with these mountains.
We've camped and stayed in a hotel down around the Smokies. We've tent camped, Camped in a Tahoe, and even brought the motorcycle down one year. We've been able to share moments with family and friends down there that we still talk about to this day. We've celebrated at least three peoples birthdays while in the Smokies over the years, mine included.
With all that being said it's been hard for us not to consider coming back every year. We always find at least one new thing to do every year (I mean we haven't even really put a dent in everything there is to do down there). We always love bringing people with us and sharing the appeal. We have our favorite hikes, our favorite places to eat, and even our favorite campground. I understand more and more every year we go why people always have that one place they consider their home away from home. This place has become our home away from home.
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