Okay, this trip had nothing to do with fishing, although I did take a rod in the futile hope that I’d find time for some fishing. Last weekend, several of us pooled our resources and rented a cabin near Gatlinburg. Yes, that Gatlinburg. That mother of all tourist traps. We even had to drive through Pigeon Forge to get there, a town I intensely dislike (no offense meant to the good citizens of that town) and that if anything is even more garish than Gatlinburg. I do hold some fondness for Gatlinburg despite its more grotesque aspects. I like that the town is easily walked rather than having to drive from place to place, and there are some nice joints to grab a bite to eat, enjoy a drink or sample excellent pipe tobaccos (the Gatlinburlier in the Mountain Mall is a great pipe and cigar shop). And the town did serve as the base for my first few fly fishing trips to the mountains. We took a look at a few trout streams, and they all looked pretty darn cold, especially up high where some streams were completely frozen over. Maybe they’ll warm up a bit before my first planned fly fishing trip in April. Here’s a quick photo essay:

I'm usually not much on cabins, being more of a camper and cheapskate, but this one had the goods - not to mention it was cheap in the off-season. Here's the game room where Dewayne completely destroyed me at foosball.

And here's the movie theater room, complete with nice chairs and an 11 ft. projection screen.

Most of the group at the Hofbrauhaus Restaurant, an excellent little sandwich shop in Gatlinburg. Get the Reuben or the Hoagie - both fantastic with a cold Beck's.

A stream along the Alum Cave Bluff Trail. We hiked to Arch Rock.

Another shot of the creek along the trail.

Here's Jacqulyn and her sister Gina near the beginning of the trail. We hiked in fairly deep but compacted snow all the way to Arch Rock.

Jacqulyn and yours truly at Arch Rock. The top steps were solid chunks of ice, so we turned back lacking any gear for handling that much slippiness as Bear Grylls would say.

Icicles near Newfound Gap.

Newfound Gap had lots of snow, and it was brutally cold with a strong wind. We didn't stay long.

Tags: Alum Cave Bluff Trail, cabin, Smoky Mountains, snow

This entry was posted on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 12:25 am and is filed under Photography, Random Musings, hiking and backpacking. The author is Nathan Kennedy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.