Hikin' in the Smokies

We went for a hike in the Smokies yesterday. It was 2.8 miles round trip to a waterfall. Both kids did excellent. Noah never cried, he even fell asleep for most of the return trip. Erin never whined or cried, even with shoes that were hurting her feet on the way back, falling on the ground about 4 times, and being tired and hot by the end (she told us these things were bothering her, but not in a whiny kid sort of way).

On our way to the waterfall, just about everyone we passed was telling us about a bear that was up in a tree a little further ahead. We finally saw him and he didn't seem to be too much of a threat. He was just hanging out, probably trying to stay away from all the annoying people taking his picture - like us (although I took his picture to show Erin cause she couldn't find him).

I'm just glad he was still in the tree on our way back from the waterfall :)

(this photo was taken without any zoom so you can get a sense of how far away he was. clicking on the photo will also make it larger)