Smokies
Johnny Jones, 28 August 1997
Chip and I walk for a lot of reasons: That's when we talk to one another and share what happened during our day. Walking lowers our stress. And it keeps us in shape so that we can hike with our kids on vacation.
In the Smokies last week, we rediscovered the pleasure of Alum Bluff, a 5-mile trail up to the top of Mte. LeConte, where we stayed in cabins so many years ago. Chip found the page where he had written a note to our children three years ago, and they both read his hope that we could join their children on that trail some day. And we found the place at the top where Bryan had gone exploring among some rocks while we waited with a group for sunset--until someone asked in horror, "Whose child is that down there?" I was too embarrassed to admit he was mine; I thought that, having trained on Elephant Rocks and Johnson's Shut-Ins, he would surely be OK.
He was, but the climb was more adventure than he bargained for. And naturally, Amy followed him--although not in the worst spots. So, of course, they did it again--but Bryan's 6-foot height made it easy this time. We enjoyed eating our peanut butter sandwiches, drinking from our canteens, and watching a falcon float on the refreshing mountain air overlooking that spot.
Amy's favorite hike was Kephart Prong. It's only a couple of miles up to one of the shelters on the Appalachian trail, but the trail follows a stream, so that you are never far from either the sight or sound of water. There is a lovely view on every one of the moss-covered log bridges--of rocks that look old and wise sprinkled by water that makes net-like skirts around them. And the colors--the greens and browns and grays, and the white of the rushing water--are amazing.
We didn't hike the Noland Ridge trail this trip; it starts out pretty icky, with a horse trail. But the views on the ridge are amazing. We rode the lower part on horseback.
Deep Creek has more of a sedate trail, but its pleasure is the whitewater tubing. I did it once; I chose not to do it again. This was Bryan's first time for the wild ride, rushing down the river in the tube with a seat. The girls all screamed--and everyone got dumped at least once.
Our last hike was about 8 miles along Noland Creek, off the Road to Nowhere just outside Bryson City NC. Our cabin was off this road, which ran out of government funds over 60 years ago after a tunnel was completed. A billboard just before the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park still proclaims, "The Road to Nowhere--A Broken Promise, 1943-?".
The fun of hiking for us is not only in the challenge of walking or the beauty of the trails (although we love the natural wonder we see); it is also in the visiting. When we are at our little cabin we do meals together, and that's fun; or we have devotionals together, and that's great; but on the trails we split into smaller groups and talk deeply. We tell one another what's on our minds and our hearts. We get to know one another again. And that's what we, who are so often separated, need, as well as what we desire.
It was fun to see other families on the trails doing what we were doing: Enjoying the beauty God created and enjoying one another. I am so thankful we can hike with our grown children. So when you see us out walking, we may not be thinking of Viburnum streets; we may be thinking of the Smokies or our kids, of beauty and depth and wonder off the Road to Nowhere.
