After our initial shock at arriving at the Smoky Mountain area via the horror movie set that is Pigeon Forge we found a ludicrously expensive campsite whose office was not open at 4:30pm and whose water tap leaked (which I had to repair) … yeah I know … grumpy old man syndrome ……. we realised that we were lucky enough to be in yet another beautiful National Park.
Next morning we headed into the mountains themselves which were stunningly beautiful (if a little crowded).. It was worth following the crowds though as we saw some amazing views as we crossed through the mountains and travelled accoss the state border into North Carolina. Stayed in the park for one night - our first night of ‘wild camping’ - well not really, we just didn’t have a water or electric hookup - so had to use our generator instead!
We have really enjoyed having a campfire in the evening though - Tony especially loves having to go gather the firewood - especially since he brought a new saw! (For any state park rangers reading this - all wood was dead and on the ground before Tony attacked with the saw!).
Drove through / over the Chattooga River (North Georgia) which was where the film ‘Deliverance’ was filmed …. again the scenery here is truly beautiful but my enjoyment was slightly marred by what I thought I could hear as the faint strumming of a banjo played by a toothless white man wearing dungarees! Given the fact that the majority of men here do indeed wear blue dungarees I feel my reservations were entirely justified!
The drive down to South Carolina took us through Cherokee Reservations which seem a lot more prosperous than their counterparts throughout the rest of the US which is more than can be said for the mountain communities which we drove by. A lot of these, whilst having beautiful but run-down properties seem to have suffered greatly in a shift of economics over the last few decades……….
Arrived Hickory Knob State Park SC
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