We spent two and half days in the Great Smoky National Park hiking and driving around. The weather was in the 60s and 70s and PERFECT! For as commercial as the Gatlinburg “strip” can be the mountains are breathtakingly beautiful and serene.
Chris didn’t get to do any real hikes since he was on vacation with his pregnant wife and two-year-old son… but we all still enjoyed just being outside in our gorgeous surroundings. Our first hiking day was spent on an easy trail with a stream. Asher had a ball!
Our little hiker looking really grown up!
Beautiful creek!
The goal was to let Asher walk AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE so he’d be really tired each night… though he did hitchhike on his Daddy’s shoulders quite a bit! :)
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We spent most of one day driving to Cade’s Cove and then did mini hikes/stops at the different historical buildings. We got an early start when it was still pretty chilly outside.
Asher who is has gotten very good at saying cheese without smiling. :)
The Atkinson Fam!
The whole gang!
My faves!
Enjoying the fresh, cool mountain air!
Spring had definitely ‘sprung’ in Tennessee! The dogwoods were out in full-force and beautiful!
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Our last half day in the park was spent hiking up to Laurel Falls. It was categorized as an easy, paved path so I didn’t think it would be too hard… BUT the longer we walked and the steeper the path got the more I was began to worry that I was possibly over-doing it so I let Chris and Asher finish the trail and I sat on a bench overlooking the mountain. All in all, it wasn’t our favorite hike. There were tons of people at the top so Chris didn’t get a good view and Asher was grumpy from several days of little sleep and no naps. He cried the whole way down the mountain. :) It’s so much fun to be THOSE parents with THAT kid. :) Anyway, no pictures from that hike… just lots of memories!! ha ha!
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