…running into a (insert potentially dangerous animal here) and not needing to run/swim faster than said animal, but only needing to run/swim faster than the person/people that you are with?

I grew up going camping in black bear country, PA. I have been constantly disappointed in the fact that I have never seen one. So while on vacation with my family in the Smoky Mountains, I was determined to see a black bear. The signs and warnings are everywhere you turn. The tales here are many of encounters with these beautiful creatures so I knew this was my chance.

To begin my quest, I convinced everyone to take a drive through Cade’s Cove to see some wildlife. Unfortunately, we saw little more than other people in cars driving around this scenic loop. There were some great views, but as far as wildlife goes, we only saw a few deer that were as tame as those found in a petting zoo. This is one of the places that all of the tourists go which are typically the places I like to avoid. I imagine it is better if you park and hike, but we didn’t have the proper hiking gear for carrying Vanessa. Besides, seeking out bears with a 10 month old would not exactly put us in contention for the parents of the year award. So we settled for the scenic drive.

The next day we went for a nice family hike to Laurel Falls. We pretty much shelved the bear hunt for this hike as it is another high traffic tourist hike, but it was enjoyable none the less. I had a great time taking “short cuts” with my niece Kyrah. And the path was stroller friendly so Vanessa was able to enjoy a nice nap on the way back down.

Upon returning to our awesome cabin outside of Gatlinburg and having some dinner, I convinced my sisters Danielle and Andrea, and Andrea’s boyfriend Ian to take a dusk hike on one of the trails closer to the cabin. Looking at the smoky mountain trail map, I decided to go to Greenbrier Rd. to try our luck. I knew our best chance would be to go where people were not so we headed out. We drove a few miles up Greenbrier Rd. and settled on a semi grown-in trail. There were not any other cars parked here so we were off to a good start as far as staying away from people was concerned. We grabbed our cameras and a flashlight and headed out. Since it was getting dark soon and the woods in the smokies are very thick anyway, we planned to just hike for about 20 minutes and then turn back. So begins our journey.

It is a strange feeling when you want to see something your survival instinct is telling you don’t really want to see. I always get this when I scuba dive as well. Every little noise you hear and every strange thing in the distance looks or sounds like what you may be looking for and it always makes my heart skip a beat. After about 15 minutes of hiking, it was getting dark and we decided we would go for another five minutes. A few moments later I heard a little rustle in the bushes, I looked over and sure enough it was a little cub running up a tree. I pointed it out the others and we all scrambled for our cameras.

However, I knew that this was exactly the wrong scenario to see a bear. If there is a cub, there is a mama somewhere nearby. And probably 90% of the bear stories with bad endings involve a mama bear and a cub. I told the others that it would probably be best just to turn around and head back. But we wanted pictures so we fumbled around with our cameras for a few more moments when the cub turned back down the tree and bolted up the trail.

Ian and I started heading briskly back towards the car(the opening phrase of this post did not seem like a joke anymore) while my fearless 21 year old sister Andrea was set on seeing mama. She held Danielle back for just a few more moments until they heard a loud snort. We all immediately high tailed it out of there. We ran for about a minute until we calmed down and walked the rest of the way. We had done it! We saw a black bear in the wild. This alone would have made it a great vacation. I was so excited, I couldn’t sleep that night.

The rest of the week there was also great. We took Vanessa and Kyrah to the Ripley’s Aquarium downtown. I had never been to an aquarium before and was very impressed. Vanessa was so fascinated the whole time we were there. I love watching that little mind working and just taking everything in.

We also did some rafting on the Pigeon River. The river had a few cat4’s but for the most part was pretty mellow. This was fine with me as I am always just happy to be outdoors and in the water.

Our last day there, Ian and I went on a sunrise hike to Ramsay Cascades. We were the third car in the lot and only saw three other people on the way up. This is my kind of hike. It was a great workout and seeing the falls is well worth the eight mile round trip. This trail was also up Greenbrier Rd which I would recommend over Cade’s Cove to anyone who wants a less crowded and quiet day in the Smokies. It was so nice to spend some time with the family and to get back to the East Coast Mountains.