Day 16 - Cherokee, NC

Shaun braving the Appalachian Trail for the second time!

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Weather - Mostly cloudy with some thunder but little rain, high of 86F

Steps - Shaun: 16,141, Shannon: 15,139

Varmints - one lone elk, our first squirrels in the park, surprisingly enough, a groundhog, rogue chickens

It looks like the Starship Enterprise, doesn't it?

We finally made it up Clingman's Dome! We were so close on the day we hiked to Andrews Bald, but we just couldn't force ourselves on another 1/2-mile uphill climb after the final mile of the Andrews Bald trail on Shaun's bum knee. So, we drove back this morning, early enough that the parking lot was nice and uncongested, as was the walk up to the observation tower.

Clingman's Dome is the tallest point in the park, and we were hoping to get some good views of sweeping vistas, but the day turned out pretty foggy, with low clouds sweeping across the mountain and allowing spots of blue sky and green mountains to peek through every once in awhile. So while it wasn't the clear vistas we had hoped for, it was definitely atmospheric.

We took the climb slowly because the air is thinner up there, and the trail, while paved, has a pretty steep grade for most of the walk. We got to see some cool things along the way, including the sparkle of dew drops in the fir trees when the sun would break through the clouds, and the dark silhouettes of skeletal trees just visible through the fog. Here are some artsy-fartsy shots we took along the way up:

This iteration of the observation tower was completed in 1959 (a very good year, according to Shaun), and it has a long sweeping concrete ramp up to the tower itself. There are signs pointing to the various peaks and landmarks in the distance, only some of which we were able to see. The clouds were still very atmospheric, but the wind got to Shaun, so we didn't stay too long. The way down was significantly easier (of course), and we were soon back at the parking lot and heading back down the mountain to Cherokee.

We have been wanting to visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual for awhile, but the timing hasn't been working out. We made it a priority today, going to the museum first. It was really well done, a one-way loop through the exhibits and time, showing the evolution of Cherokee culture from pre-history to near modern times. Artifacts, including beautiful baskets and pottery, masks, hunting, farming, and cooking tools, and games, were displayed with really good explanatory text about their uses, history, and significance. Some of it was tough to get through, especially the exhibits on the Age of Colonization and the Trail of Tears, but it was necessary information to take in, feel, and learn. 

We swung through the gift shop and got some postcards, and then we made use of some tables under umbrellas in a courtyard outside the museum to eat some lunch. Also outside the museum is a huge, amazing sculpture made from a single California redwood log that shows Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee syllabary (written language). Near this sculpture is another of a bear that is wearing a turban and smoking a pipe (like Sequoyah in his famous portrait) and has some of the symbols from the syllabary on its back. There are many of these bears throughout Cherokee painted in various ways, much like the Cows on Parade in Chicago many years ago.

I see the resemblance, don't you?

After lunch, we went across the street to the Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, a co-op that had all different kinds of art by mostly Cherokee but also other Native American artists. Not only did they have a huge shop, but there was also a really good exhibit showing the history of the crafts represented, the different types of basketweaving and materials used, the forms of pottery, jewelry, and more. We had really been wanting to buy baskets by Cherokee artists, and there were so many options, from small to large, white oak to honeysuckle vine, dyed to natural colors, handled, lidded, or open, and everything in between. The prices are pretty high, but we had expected that and thought they were worth it for the artistry involved. However, there was pretty clear difference in price between the ones made from thin strips of wood and the honeysuckle vine ones, which were cheaper but actually the ones we liked better because they remind us of this trip. The honeysuckle is blooming right now, filling the air with their lush fragrance. We've loved driving down the roads in the park with our windows down smelling honeysuckle on the wind.

This is a wood weaving that shows the incredible skills of the Cherokee artisans.

We ended up each buying a honeysuckle vine basket, and we found other art that spoke to us in different ways. Shaun bought a beautiful quilted wall hanging showing the Smokies in strips of navy, teal, purple, and emerald green. A quilter herself, this really fit Shaun to a T. Shannon bought a painting of a Cherokee woman in front of a sunrise (or sunset) wearing a cloak of Cherokee writing and with a handprint over her mouth. The artist's statement said that the painting is her response to the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Native American women, and though dark in content, it's beautifully painted and spoke to Shannon.

This is a picture of the flower of the tulip tree that we spoke about seeing from
the chairlift at Anakeesta. We happened to find this one on the ground
right at the beginning of the river trail.

This is a fire pink. It's pretty, isn't it?

This is a mountain laurel, and they were going great gang busters on this trail.
We must have waited long enough for them to come into full bloom. Yay!

From Cherokee, we made the hard decision to spend the rest of our last day in the national park walking on the Oconaluftee River Trail rather than hiking to more waterfalls. The trail was 3 miles long and followed the river through the woods. Along the way, we saw some beautiful wildflowers and blooming mountain laurel, as well as an elk hanging out in the river. It was low-key and easy and a great way to end our time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

We lucked out because we could hear thunder and see dark clouds overhead as we walked the trail, but it only sprinkled a little bit on us. Later in the evening the skies opened up, but we were already well inside by then. We took in a bit of the outdoor Mountain Farm Museum at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center while we finished the trail, including the horse and mule in the historic barn and the hens that had escaped the fencing and gone rogue through the fields. They were pretty funny wandering aimlessly; we wondered if the rangers put them back each night or just let them find their way naturally.

That was the last excitement of the day. We headed back to our hotel to eat dinner, do our family Zoom call, and pack for the final leg of our journey to Ashville on the morrow. We'll take the day tomorrow to meander through the little towns between here and there, seeing the sights, doing our parts to help the local economies, and ending in Marshall, NC at our VRBO for the last 6 nights of our trip.