Great Smoky Mountains, Part 3: Rainbow Trout and Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

On our last full day in Tennessee, Jarrod spent a couple hours fishing while I read on the riverbank.

 

He caught two rainbow trout, one of which became that night's dinner. I don't eat fish, so Jarrod had one to bring back home.

 

Later that afternoon we drove Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, a beautiful one-way mountain drive through the woods and along the river. There are innumerable small waterfalls and scenic spots, but it's really hard to good water pictures with the filtered light of the deep forest.

 

 

 

Roaring Fork boasts lots of historic structures, like this cabin, home of Ephraim and Minerva Bales and their nine children.

 

We stopped to fish in this scenic spot. I called it "The Enchanted Forest."

 

Jarrod caught another rainbow trout and Conan was mighty curious about his first live fish.

 

 

 

This cottage was my favorite historic structure of the whole trip because of its wild paint scheme of white, sunshine yellow and sky blue. Apparently Alfred Reagan and his wife used "all three colors that Sears and Roebuck had" to paint their home.

 

Toward the end of the Roaring Fork drive is this neat little waterfall called the Place of a Thousand Drips. As soon as you exit the national park, there are a few hotels and businesses. We stopped at a place called Ely's Mill and bought a jar of honey. The bees were kept just out back, so we knew the honey was fresh!

 

Before heading out the next morning, we took Conan on the Gatlinburg Trail, one of only two trails where dogs are allowed in the national park.

 

It was a bit humid, but we all had a great time -- and best of all, Conan was pooped for the 5-hour drive home.