Smoky Mountain Trip Days 4 & 5; Bears, Caverns, & Clingman's Dome

Day 4 dawned bright and sunny; we have such spectacular views!  Since the sun sets off the balcony we can only see sunrise through the lightening of nearby mountain peaks.

We did take a quick walk around the "neighborhood"; these pictures don't do it justice but in order to have these amazing views the house is perched on the very edge of the cliff and the roads are real knuckle biters (and we are quite used to driving in the New Hampshire mountains!).  

Just as we were getting ready to leave my mother in law came in to tell us a mother bear and her cubs were right by our cars.  They are SO CUTE!  We made sure to stay well away and just zoom in with our lenses.  

We headed out to explore the Forbidden Caverns first and then planned to spend our afternoon around the pool. For some reason the cave photos loaded in reverse but I don't think that really matters. It was so nice and cool in the caves and it's the first cave we've toured where you can both see and hear rushing waters. 

It was hot at the pool and we weren't even there an hour and I managed to get a slight sunburn! I also started a new book my mom gave me just before we left; I'm excited that it's by the same author as Luck of the Titanic which I really enjoyed. 

My husband and I spent some time in the hot tub on our deck then watched a bit of TV.  We headed down the mountain around dinnertime since my sister wanted to check out Anakeesta; a local attraction.  We rode the Chondola up (part chair/ part gondola ride) then a few of the teens rode the mountain coaster.  We enjoyed the treetop walk and then went up into the vista tower to enjoy the views. 

I loved that their gardens looked like tubes of paint spilling out over the lawn!

It was nice and cool on top of the Vista tower and you could see very far. 

Three of the teens elected to sit out the walk in the shade on some rocking chairs

 By the time we finished and got ice cream we discovered that the chondola was shut down for the night due to storms in the area; we had to wait forever for a bus/trolly to take us down the mountain.  Despite closing just about every single thing up on top of the mountain they were still trucking people up!  

The ride back up the mountain to our rental was real nerve wracking in the dark and we had some lightening too to add to the fun.. thankfully the rain held off until we got inside the house!  

We weren't sure day 5 was going to be all that nice.  The forecast for July 13th called for 100% chance of rain.  My sister and her boys were heading home and planned to leave early in the morning so they could make it back to their house by dinner.  Luckily the weather cleared a bit and we all decided to take one last drive into Rocky Mountain National Park to check out Clingman's Dome.

Looking straight down at the tree tops and path from the top of the Dome

It was still pretty cloudy/foggy on top of the dome so we didn't see much but it was still a nice climb and we enjoyed reading the placards.  After hiking we said goodbye to my sister and nephews and headed out on a short hike to Andrews Bald.  

The weather was perfect for a hike!

    The trail was very wet after the rain

It took us nearly 2 hours to hike the 3.4 miles since it got pretty warm and muggy on the way back and we needed rest stops along the way (we hiked the 1.7 out in under an hour without any stops).  

After our hike we made a few stops down the mountain to snap some photos of waterfalls and the swiftly moving river after last nights' rain then went to the house and rested, ate lunch, and saw the bear family again! 

My husband and the boys went to the movies to see Thor while my mother in law and I elected to enjoy a nice quiet house to ourselves.  

Days 1-3

Days 6- 7

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