Grandma and Grandpa helped with the twins over the weekend so we could take Connor on his fall campout. Grammy and Pappy helped with the kids this week so Josh and I could take a much needed escape from our day-to-day life.
We headed to our home away from home ...
Our rental cabin in the mountains.
The view from the top. We tried a few new trails this time around. The first one up was Charlie's Bunion, a really long trail off the Appalachian Trail at Newfound Gap.
This view, the complete lack of other people, made it all worth it. Beautiful fall colors, a pretty steady uphill climb, and this was the reward at the end. You literally walked along ridges and stood at the top of the mountains with panoramic views of the mountains all around. It was breathtaking.
This was the view from a secondary trail, called simply The Jumpoff. Just another mile or so off the main trail, and spectacular views here as well. Fall colors still brilliant and beautiful.
Just a snapshot from one of the many overlooks. This trip was far and away the best fall colors we've ever seen on our fall trip. Lots of bright reds, oranges and yellows with some greens still mixed in for contrast.
The view from the parking lot at Clingman's Dome, the spot of our second new trail of the week. The bad news about this one, it was downhill most of the way there (and therefore uphill most of the way back)!
The trails group had put a lot of work into making this one easier to hike in and out. Lots of foot bridges and rock steps that Mother Nature did not provide originally.
Andrew's Bald. Who knew there were wide open spaces at the tops of some of the mountains. I've never seen a meadow quite like this one in the mountains. It was warm, sunny and a peaceful place to spend a few hours resting in the soft grass. Lots of people brought picnic lunches and were there for the day.
Love driving these roads in the mountains. It always makes me think "two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by ..."
And, of course, the beautiful view from the back deck of the cabin in the hot tub. It was a nice long week of hiking, relaxing, good eating, and a little shopping (mostly for the kids, of course)!
The rest of the photos are here.
