About halfway between Gatlinburg and Newfound Gap is a large picnic area named after a popular trail not too far away. The Chimney Tops picnic area used to be one of the developed campgrounds within the park. Now dotted only with tables and a few bathrooms, it is still a very nice place to come and relax for a few minutes or half the day. A wide creek runs right through the area tumbling over and around large boulders. Some of them are so big it is easy to imagine they were piled there by giants.
We decided to stop for lunch one day when the kids were still little. While eating, it seems the large rocks kept beckoning to them for it was not long before they asked to go climbing on them. Since the water was low and remained only a trickle in many places, we made their day by saying yes. Of course, the child in me also wanted to join them.
They were amazed at some of the rocks whose true size probably could not be seen when the water was at normal level. Up, over, and on to the next one they scrambled jumping across when the distance allowed. Slowly, we worked our way downstream. Occasionally they would find one big enough to explore further and find it warranted being climbed again.
Before long, we had traveled a couple hundred yards down the creek and found ourselves out in the middle of the shallow water. We had to retrace our path upstream to find a place where the rocks once again neared the bank. The kids had no qualm with that if you can imagine. Even then, they did not want to make their way off the rocks.
Before we left, a picture was taken of them sitting on one of the largest boulders. Through the years, we have intended to make it back here for another lunch and “boulder jumping” excursion. The plan was to get more pictures of them on the same rock to show how much they had grown from prior visits. Unfortunately, time and other things have kept us from doing that. Maybe it will be possible to get them all together again in the future and add the grandkids as well.
Excerpt from Under The Smoke
Excerpt from Under The Smoke
