'Accidentally' hiking Ramsey Cascades
We went to the little cafe they have at the campground. Your basic breakfast and lunch needs. The food was good and cheap. It reminds me of the diners back in the day. We sat at the 'bar' and hung out with the waitress. By the end of our visit she was telling me all of the campground gossip lol. 20% of the people live here. She thinks that 60% are seasonal and the rest are rentals. A lot of the community is older and they have hospice come by a lot to take care of their needs. Some other guy comes by for the care of the property and what not. Apparently some guy was having a meeting with the park owners about wanting to buy more of the vacant trailers. Nobody seems to like whoever this guy is. The residents here also don't like that there's no real screening for the ones who rent the trailers on AirBnB or Hipcamp. Which is funny she mentioned this because I was just thinking that this is a very quiet and nicely kept community. When we checked in everyone was either renting an AirBnB or Hipcamp. The lady at the front didn't ask for proof or anything. She just wrote me a parking pass and sent us on our way. The waitress said there's a rental behind her trailer and most of the renters are good and respectful. But lately there's been a lot of bad eggs 😮
We really wanted to do Grotto Falls but there is only a small parking lot for the area and a few parking spots down the way. All of the spots were full and we were stuck in a traffic jam. One way road all the way up a mountain and back down. This was at 9am. I feel like the Smokies are definitely the most populated national park. I was here nine years ago and things were getting so congested. I see they only got worse. At least there was hardly any trash to be seen and it seems everyone is doing their part. The drive wasn't bad since you're in the mountains and everything is so pretty. We saw a mama bear and two cubs within five minutes of being in the park. They were so close to the road and totally didn't mind all the people stopping to take their pictures and what not. I'm sure there was another cub somewhere, probably up in the trees. The park also started making you pay to park ever since March 1st. So we ended up going and getting a 7 day pass.
There's another entrance to the park right by our campground. I was saving this for another day but we decided to give it a shot. We didn't have service so we couldn't really tell what we were getting into. The parks here are not like Cuyahoga. There's hardly any information about the trails when you're in the lot. This had the name of the trail and the miles. Ramsey Cascades was the only thing here. Not too many people either. We started the hike, it wasn't too bad in the first half. After the 2.5 mile marker I was starting to feel it. The scenery was gorgeous but we were going all uphill and I'm not really in shape. We passed a group of younger people and asked if there was anything worth it at the end of this out and back hike. The girl said there's a huge waterfall at the end and we sure love our waterfalls. We decided not to turn back and to keep on going until we got to the end. This last section of the hike was brutal. I thought I died four times. I almost laid on the ground and cried lol. We passed a couple that was headed down and we asked how close we were. The lady said we were at the last leg and this last little portion was the "hardest." I felt like she just shot me in the heart lol. Then it started to rain. Which isn't a big deal for me. I was extremely close to going on all fours and crawling the rest of the way. So many steps. So many roots. Higher and higher. THEN WE FINALLY MADE IT. I couldn't enjoy the fall right away. I laid on a rock and waited until I was brought back to life. We were the last ones there so we were able to enjoy the falls for ourselves. The falls were beautiful! And at least the hike down was allll downhill. Would I do this hike again? Absolutely not 😂
When we got home we looked up the hike. Everyone was saying that this is not for the weak. Not for ones that aren't in shape. Also not a hike you should just do out on a limb. It is rated strenuous. 8 miles and gaining 2,200 feet in elevation. Of course 😬 But there was no way I was going to give up and not be able to get something out of the hike. It would have been all for nothing lol. This is a review I read, it made me laugh;
"It was beautiful at the top but I wouldn't recommend going if you aren't in extremely good shape and mentally prepared. I thought I wasn't going to make it down. I actually came close to giving up and calling 911. I cried twice and fell 10 times. The second half you actually have to crawl up all fours or you will fall to your death."
Amen sister 😂
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