Our plans to head to Montana this summer were hijacked by Covid. All access to the east side of Glacier National Park was originally shut down by the Blackfeet Nation (which owns all that land) until the end of June. Two day before we were to leave on our month-long foray out west, The Blackfeet extended the closure of that land for the summer. Our week-long stay at Glacier was canceled. So, we considered our options, and changed course. We now have a 2 week reservation at Glacier for 2021.
So, Plan B. We decided to take a little 2 week trip that would take us to Big South Fork National Recreation Area, Longwood Gardens, and some great spots outside Washington DC. Longwood has just opened since their COVID closure in March. So we packed our hand sanitizer and masks, and hit the road.
It feels so good to be out here. We took our time moving north, with our first stop in Tifton, GA, and our second in Chattanooga, TN. By the third night, we came to Big Soth Fork, and our campsite in the trees.Our first full day there, we drove up to the northern portion of the park where there are some nice overlooks of the river. My God, Tennessee is beautiful! It doesn't seem that there is any flat land here. One hill moves into another which is met by another, and so on.
After visiting the overlooks, we stopped at one coal town re-creation. A gentleman approached us as we wandered around, checking things out. He informed us that this town was only available to tor as part of a paid private tour. We left and continued up the road to another re-created coal town. Here, the National Park Service has done a wonderful job in preserving the history of this coal town, Blue Heron, mine #18. It was built here in the 1937 and was occupied until 1962 . The buildings are mostly gone, but were recreated in roofed steel frames, creating an open air museum. Under the frames that followed the shape and size of the originl buildings, they placed objects of life from the mining town, and a recording of former town inhabitants talking about their memories of life there. From building to building, we built a fuller understanding of what it was like to live in an isolated mine town in Tennessee in that time period.
The next day, we headed to another part of the park to hike. We were surprised that there were no cars at the trailhead. When I got out of the car, about 3 feet away, there was a fresh pile of bear scat. Other
than a bit of poison ivy which we were able to sidestep, and a few wet spots where we had to cross some fallen logs across a stream, the trail was great. We stopped many times to survey the fascinating rock formations along the way. Thankfully, our hike was all in the woods that provided cooling shade from the heat of the day.
At the conclusion of this hike, we drove up to the trailhead for 2 large arches, and took the trail to go take a look.
By the time we got back to the RV late in the afternoon, skies had clouded over. A short time later, a thunderstorm rolled through.
