I'm heading down to camp in Cade's Cove campground in Great Smoky Mountain National Park beginning this Sunday. We haven't planned anything besides a trip to Joyce Kilmer Forest to see the giant trees.

We're open to suggestions. I personally am interested in local beers -- what to drink and where to buy it. I'm sure my daughter is interested in restaurants, preferably near the western side of the park. My wife, and all of us, would be interested in interesting local flora and fauna. If anyone knows of any caves still open to the public, that would be great.

TIA, Charlie

Watch out for the bars, keep the food locked up in the car.

It's been 50 years since I camped at Cade's Cove, so anything that I might say would be surely outdated. Dwest is right, if I remember, about the bears that roam through the campground, so the focus should be bears rather than beers, if you ask me.

My wife and I are also leaving on Sunday for a 10-vacation to celebrate our wedding anniversary. To please my wife, we will be staying for a few days at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. We have tickets to see "Jersey Boys", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Legends". To please me, we are renting a car and driving up into Utah to dip in a great hot springs near Hurricane and visit Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park and then down into Arizona to spend two days at the Grand Canyon, continuing to Sedona, Prescott, and departing from Phoenix. There is a major forest fire in central Arizona, so we will keep our fingers crossed, as I cannot tolerate much smoke.

My information is also dated. I grew up in that area and I am told the bear problem has improved, but you still need to be careful about food.

Cade's Cove had an over population of deer the last time I was there. We had to drive the loop very carefully because the deer were fearless of people. However, it made for a lot of great photos.

I didn't stay inside the park the last visit and didn't allow enough time. I consider it a place where you definitely need to slow down and see the details. Really hope to get back there some time soon.

Oops! Just realized that you should already be there. Hope it turns out to be as nice as I remember.

reminds me of camping years ago in Kings Canyon Park and bears http://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm

the park ranger came by campsite to tell us about bears and mentioned that the state of California invested$$$ in "bearproof" trash barrels, ya know, the type with that weighted, domed top and pull-down handle... well, that evening when the campfires were going nicely, people began screamin' "there's a bear" get inside campers or vehicles. The bear sniffed around each campsite and then walked up to that Calif. trashcan, stood up on its' hind feet, pulled the handle down (like you or me), reached down inside barrel for garbage. Beautiful!

in CT its reported http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/crime/blac ... in-windsor
or http://southington.patch.com/topics/Bear+Shot or here http://newtown.patch.com/articles/burli ... ng-of-bear

where's the love?

Charlie, how was the camping in the Smokies?

Well, last week was the week from hell. We have an old cat, and we needed to board her at the vet's lest something bad happen. When I got to the cat hotel Saturday afternoon, it became evident that they'd told us the wrong time for dropoff, since there was nobody there. If we'd waited till they were open, it would have meant two long days' driving for two full days at the park. No go.

So we went to Assateague Island, which is about a 3.5 hour drive for us (vs 10 to the Smokies). When we got there, the wind was so strong that we had to use our daughter as a paperweight to lay down the tarp and blanket and put the tent up. We went to walk on the beach, and the blowing sand was so painful that we had to go back and get on long clothing. Then, about half a mile from the campsite, it started raining. Not much, but when it's blowing horizontal, you get really wet really fast. We went to a restaurant to dry out during dinner and waited for the rain to stop. Once we were sure it had stopped, wen went out, and then it began raining for real. Got totally soaked again.

The squall that night was without a doubt the worst storm I've ever camped through. The tent held, but the rain was so heavy and the wind so strong that the water got through the fly and soaked into the entire tent. It dried out enough the next day that we could hang up the sleeping bags and the wind died down enough that we could take out the air mattresses and bail out the tent.

That day was good, but the night had a heavy mist/light rain, and lots of wind, so the tent got soaked again. We drove home the following morning. Then we found that our sick cat had hurled all over the house. She stopped eating the next day (we gave her an appetite stimulating pill to no avail), and we had to put her to sleep Friday.

Oh, and our phone/internet/cable went out as the sh*t was hitting the fan, so we had to make all our alternate arrangements by cell. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, but the way things were going it was the last straw. It turned out that the phone people had missed putting the bottom panel on the outside box, and a mouse had moved in and chewed through the fiber-optic cable.

On a positive note, we found a nearly perfect cat the following day. We've been almost a week introducing him to our 3-yo cat, and I think they'll wind up getting along.

Cheers, Charlie

Charlie, your vacation report was humorous and a little sad. Rain can sure dampen the spirits. It's hard to feel comfortable in a wet sleeping bag, I know from experience. Sorry that you weren't able to make it to the Smokies. By way of contrast, my wife and I had a wonderful 10-day vacation in the American southwest. We did have some cold temperatures and high winds one day at the Grand Canyon, which sent everyone into the stores to buy sweatshirts. However, the next day was calm and beautiful. After seeing the narrow hiking trails with no guard rails, my wife wouldn't put one foot on the Bright Angel hiking trail at the canyon, and I don't blame her, although I have hiked to the bottom of the canyon several times in the past. However, at 68 just trying to breath at 7,000 feet is somewhat of a challenge. After four days above 7,000 feet it was a relief to get down to lower elevations. Back home below 1,000 feet elevation, it feels more normal, thank you.

Sorry about your trip.

If you do make it to Cade's Cove some day, it's a nice place. It's remote though, which is part of why it's nice. Go for the nature and the isolation and take in restaurants and bars on some other trip would be my advice.

Maybe spend an extra day and stay in Knoxville at the Crowne Plaza, which is across the street from Market Square, a very happening area for food and bars (especially as far as Knoxville goes).

Thanks for your thoughts, Doug. It's easy to get lost in the "woe is me" part and lose the humor part. I just wrote an email to my brother about the trip, and after seeing your post this morning, I definitely emphasized the humorous, which is not insignificant in hindsight.

Highland piper, the nature and isolation are most definitely the attractions for us. Our goal on our yearly camping trip is to get disconnected. It's nice to know where hot showers and a grocery store are, but that's all we need. Every year or two, we go to Acadia National Park, and one great thing there is the fish market, run by a family that actually does the fishing. There's nothing like using the campfire to cook a piece of flounder that you know was swimming just a couple of hours earlier.

Cheers, Charlie

I agree with Doug wholeheartedly.

I just want to put in a kind word for the "worm", ya know, people fish but no one ever thinks about the worm going on the hook.
Keep in mind, before every great meal... there's somekinda murder... cheers

Real men don't use bait.

I've noodled abit

and further, real men don't need to cook it first either... its like caviar... sushi... andif you wanna go Irish, just add a pint or so

Ya talking catfish hogging or rod noodling for salmon and steelhead?

And how do you come to this sweeping presumption?