Yesterday we vegged out the entire day in the 5th wheel since it was cold and rainy. The forecast for today was supposed to be cloudy with a high of about 59 degrees. After getting up and taking the dogs out etc. we went out for breakfast then headed to Gatlinburg before traveling the 21 miles or so to Cade's Cove. Our hope for the day was to hike to a waterfall and then just see some beautiful scenery. We had no expectations of topping our bear sightings from Saturday. However, totally by accident we came almost close enough to a bear to touch it. I believe in keeping my distance when it comes to watching bears so no accidents could happen that would endanger our lives or the bears. I know from reading literature and signs around the park that whenever a bear harms a human in the Smokie Mountain National Park the bear is euthanized. Even though the human is the one chasing the bear through the woods. Today we were driving slowly around the scenic loop of Cade's Cove when Janet said "Jack there's a bear" and she is looking right at me and out my driver side window. I thought she meant there was a bear on my side of the truck out into the woods so I put on the brakes and asked her to hand me the camera. I then turned to look out my side window to find the bear. I didn't need to look too long since the bear was on the side of the road almost eye level to me around four to five feet away eating berries or something off of a plant. I have been to the Smokey Mountains probably 10 times and have seen many bears there over the last 50 years but I have never seen a bear this close. If I would have known the bear was there I would not have driven up beside him. This bear was so close it was hard to take pictures because I kept thinking that if he decided to come into the truck he could do it before I could drive away or do anything to stop him. In any event he paid no attention to us as he kept gathering and eating the berries. I did take about five pictures before moving on so others coming up behind us could have a chance to see him. Later in the day we saw another bear walking through the woods near the road and were able to get a few pictures of that bear also.
Below are pictures of the waterfall we hiked up the mountain to see where, by the way it was snowing when we got up toward the top. We also spent some time by a stream that had some nice rapids that made for some nice pictures.
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| Two weeks ago Huli complained about how hot it was. Today she complained but not about the heat. |
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| Just a couple of turkies like us |
These mountains show the snow up in the higher elevations
Gabe and Jason. When it's time to do the deed its past the Methodist and Baptist Church on the Cades Cove scenic loop road to the large meadow. There is a small circular parking lot on the left side of the road. Anywhere close will do.
This is the first bear we saw today. He was at the edge of the road on top of an embankment so he was at eye level. These pictures were taken without using the zoom lens. I am not sure where the lens was set but the bear was five feet away in all of these except for the last one. After we took these pictures we went to the stream up the dirt road and cleaned out our pants.
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| This one is as he is leaving the edge of the road |
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| Huli, are they clean now? |
This is the second bear we saw later in the day after we did some hiking and made a stop at the Visitor Center for our refrigerator magnet.
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| Are you looking at me??? |
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| Yes , you are looking at me. |
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| Awesome rock |
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| I believe this my second or third day in 2012 for wearing long pants. |
