The Best Day in the Smokies…. Ever!

Okay, “best” might be too strong of a superlative, but we can certainly use the word “glorious” to describe our hike out to Andrews Bald this past Saturday.

As mentioned in a post on Tuesday, Kathy and I spent several days hiking in the Smokies last week, and spent our final day at Andrews Bald. And what a perfect day it was to visit one of the most scenic spots in the Great Smoky Mountains. Temperatures were in the low 60s, there wasn’t any wind to speak of, and we had cobalt blue skies above! It was a wonderful reward after enduring one of the worst winters in human history! Moreover, we practically had the entire grassy bald to ourselves for almost the first hour.

As we soaked in the amazing panoramic views, large white billowing clouds began to drift overhead.

During our five-day stay we literally saw spring emerge in the Smokies. Last Tuesday, as we drove over Newfound Gap, there were very few signs of spring. We spent the next several days exploring some new trails on the North Carolina side of the Smokies. So on Saturday, when we drove back over Newfound Gap, we were quite amazed to see how green everything had turned in just those couple of days.

Can’t wait to get back and possibly hike to Gregory Bald during the azalea bloom!

As result of our hike on Saturday we have updated our Andrews Bald page with some new information and photos.


Jeff
Hiking in the Smokies