Smoky Mountain Vacation - Day 5

Day 5 was our "wooded" hike, for completely different views.  We chose a 2.5 mile (each way) hike to a waterfall.  The entire hike was inside the Smoky Mountain National Park, and on our drive to the trail head we came first upon some beautiful horses, and then ....

...three baby black bears!

We never did see their mama (good thing!) but the babies were intent on eating and never even looked our way.  We got out of our car and stood about 30 feet from them, taking pictures.  I ended up seeing 5 black bears on this trip (the rest of the family saw 4), and it was one of my special blessings from this vacation.

Then we began the hike.

Every few feet there seemed to be a new view to marvel at.

There were about five of these log bridges throughout the hike.  We tasted the water in these streams; it was cold and delicious.

Resting on a natural little shelf....about halfway there!

Finally we made it to the Falls!  There was a lovely pool of water at the foot of the falls that people were swimming in.  We cautioned our kids against getting too close to the falls, where the water was deep and their were some whirlpools, but let them wade and swim in the shallow water farther out.  Across the way you can see son C looking at the water.

Little Man, taking his shoes off to swim!

Our children and my hubby all climbed the rocks next to the waterfall to get to the top.  They said the view was great from up there.  I was content to watch them from my vantage point beside the pool!

I admit, this made me a tad nervous.

The trail, the trees, the water, the rocks...so many different parts of nature to admire and enjoy.  We were exhausted by the time we made it back to the car at the trail head, but it was an amazing day well spent!