After a leisurely morning of sleeping in, we had a relatively short drive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One big difference between this park and Shenandoah is the crowds. The Smokies park is the most-visited park in the US, and we now believe it. Shenandoah was peaceful and we were often on the parkway by ourselves or with a very short “train” behind us, but it was all slow traffic and waiting today.

I attempted to take a picture of the fog we were seeing come off the mountains near Waynesville, where we made a quick grocery stop. The other two on-the-road pictures were of Kudzu, a fast-growing and invasive vine from Asia that was brought here to help with soil erosion. Great reason, but wrong plant. It is taking over and suffocating native plants. We have seen this vine in other trips, too, and I know they are trying hard to eradicate it.

Our campground for the next two nights will be Smokemont, and we were darn lucky to get open reservations so late. This campground is one of the larger ones, and is just inside the park near Cherokee, NC. Only one was available for tonight and just a few for Sunday night. Some schools are closed on Monday due to Columbus/Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so that might increase weekend traffic in the campsites. Or it could be that we are at the start of leaf peeper season. We see a good mix of Southern state plates represented here. “Oh, you’re from Iowa?” People are loathe to admit they aren’t sure where that is-ha ha!

The town of Cherokee, NC, is on land belonging to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. We thought is was interesting that signs are in English, Cherokee, and sometimes phonetic English. The Cherokee written language uses letters to represent a syllable rather than individual sounds.

We found our campsite then stepped out for a hike. The Tow String Horse Camp is nearby and there are Riding Stables near the campground. Watch where you step when hiking! The trail was nice and wide for the equine critters and followed the Bradley Fork of the Bradley River. The water is perfectly clear and makes a lovely sound to accompany a hike.

I have learned to take my phone with me to the bathroom. Sometimes I need the light, and sometimes I find wildlife in there with me.