Dobby and I were cruising to a place I found to camp near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When we arrived, it was not at all what I had anticipated. It was 3 hours from the park entrance, had zero signal, and most spots were washed out. This felt like a punch to the gut. Although it was beautiful around the trees, I was not prepared for the conditions that I ended up with. While I was in Shenandoah, I started to notice my mental health was beginning to struggle, and this experience threw me down a spiral. I love my time alone, but as I was sitting on my bed going over my current situation, I desperately did not want to be alone. I think this is when I hit my wall of solo travel. I spent two nights at the dispersed camping spot until I decided to make my way back east to get to the park entrance. I find it so difficult to sort my thoughts when things don't go as I had initially planned. I felt sad and defeated, but I couldn’t give up.
In the morning, I packed up, hitched The Tank to Tommy, and we headed toward the park. It was dark by the time I drove into a city called Pigeon Forge, which I had no knowledge of prior to when I arrived. It was like walking into a portal to another world where it is just tourist attractions and buffets in the middle of the mountains of Tennessee. Oh, and Dollywood! I wish I could’ve made a stop at that amusement park, but that’s for next time!
I spent the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot as I listened to large groups of people yelling and partying with dirt bikes getting revved into the late night. What is this town I stumbled upon?
The next day, I drove to the visitor center early in the morning to snag a spot. Since I now did not have a place to camp at, my plan was to stay parked in the national park until night, then I could find a parking lot to sleep in again. As I was dealing with the stress of where I was sleeping, it was difficult to remain present and still enjoy the park and all it has. I took Dobby on the Gatlinburg Trail, which was right next to our parking spot, and took us along a river that had swimming spots along it filled with families. After our hike, we drove the Newfound Gap road and got to see the blue smoke falling down the mountain tops. It was truly beautiful to see why the park was given its name.
I found a Walmart to park about 40 minutes from the park entrance, so I felt okay for the night once we arrived. Initially, the adrenaline was exciting about finding places to sleep and being nomadic, but the past week I have wanted my comfort back. I don’t want to worry about where I am sleeping for the night, I want that part of my brain to be given a break.
The next morning, I decided that I would try to book a place at an RV park because I didn’t want to continue not enjoying my time at the park. This proved to be difficult because, without me realizing, it was the week of 4th of July. American Independence Day in the middle of Tennessee. Did I really think it would be easy to find a place not booked up completely? After 7 places, I finally found a camp spot in Cherokee called Happy Holiday Campground, and I was ECSTATIC! I had a place to stay the next three nights, and it was down the road from a dispensary. Perfect! But oh man, were there a lot of confederate flags waving off RVs or plastered on people’s shirts. The dispensary down the road was advertised as “THE LARGEST DISPENSARY IN THE WORLD” and, while I do believe square footage wise it is the largest I have been in, only having three strains of a Sativa tells me otherwise. It was pretty insane though, with a stage inside for shows and a smoking lounge in the process of being built. It was locally grown
The next day, I went to hike Andrew’s Bald, and of course, rain followed me. The hike was good, but I didn’t get many views due to the gray clouds surrounding me. It was beautiful seeing the rain water slide down the rock steps. As I was driving back through the park from the trailhead, I saw a large field with elk roaming on it, and along the roadside. It was truly breathtaking as I watched an elk eating with a double rainbow spread across the sky and the mountains above it.
Luckily, the weather cleared up the next day, and I was able to go on another hike to Alum Cave Bluffs. That was my favorite hike that I had in the park! It had moments of being challenging, but the views throughout were insane! I jumped in the water twice along the way and had my lunch under the cave bluffs. It was the perfect end to my days spent in the Great Smoky Mountains. Although I had just left Maryland, it was time for me to head back so I could meet Maya and her family to go on a beachhouse vacation to North Carolina! I had initially planned to stay at the park for longer, but I decided that being around people I know and the comfort of a house was more beneficial to my mental state. Dobby and I got Tommy and the Tank hitched up again, and we headed on Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway back to Maryland!
DropBox Link for pictures: Great Smoky Mountains
