First RV Camping trip to Utah Mighty Five

This is the first part of our first RV trip to Utah Mighty five National parks loop. Here are the links to the next post(Arches National Park)

Preparation:

Plans are useless but planning is indispensable - Dwight D. Eisenhower.

It took over a month of learning RV 101 and planning everything in detail since this is our very first RV trip once we found the perfect one(32 ft Forrester from Sphere Rental spacious enough to accommodate 10 ppl). 

We modified our camping list to include RV essentials and especially the long list of grocery items for the 10 days. The google spread sheet helped us coordinate meal planning with our extended family joining us on the trip – including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for everyone. We used a website to help look for canceled campsites and book them as they got filled up way before we even thought of this spring break trip to Utah Mighty Five National Parks. That primarily determined the schedule below taking into account we have access to showers in between.

RV vs Tent Camping:

RV has all the comforts of home with mobility; I really appreciated the heater for the cold nights and not having to set up the tent each night and take off next morning. On the go prepared fresh meals with the convenience of having a fridge and stove, dining table for mess free feeds, and queen bed for naps made my life so much easier travelling with a toddler. Not to forget the luxury of having a mobile restroom with hot water shower for the little one in the bathtub. We are still camping within the park, closer to the hikes, nature, grill and the campfire. The only challenge we faced was its not as easy to drive around and park wherever for impromptu hikes and stops.

April 1, 2022:

Finally, the day has come and I have this habit of keeping the house clean and organized for our return, so I’m always a late nighter before the trips, to fold all laundry or organize the stuff around. DD1 enjoyed the extra day off from school so we could start on time to the airport. My cousin received us and our very first impression on SLC is so beautiful surrounded by snow mountains in every direction. After running errands at the Mexican and Harmons stores primarily for deli and fresh meats (while the other family took care of the more elaborate shopping including Costco, Indian store and Target), we had a welcome dinner at their place, but I went to bed early with DD2 tired from the night before and excited for the next day. My mom says if we do something on Ugadi, we tend to follow in the same lines for the rest of the year. Happy Ugadi (Hindu Lunar New Year’s Day), cheers to new beginnings.

Camping at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Smoky mountains..the first place that comes to mind when we hear about fall colors. We went to Smokies to check out its elegant fall colors in late October 2009 for the first time. As with any camping trip, it included a lot of planning, study the park and trail maps, book the campsite well in advance, know the place and activities, buy necessary equipment for example bear spray, mosquito repellants, portable heater etc.

Day 1: After a 9hour drive, we reached Elkmont campground late in the evening. This campground was our best option because it is almost midway in the park and provides an easy drive to either sides. It had no showers and one surely wouldn’t miss it (I hated to touch the ice cold water in that chilling nights). We set up the tent pretty fast, freshen up, lit the campfire and had dinner. Before sleeping, we had to pack all the food items back in the car and dispose the trash in the special dumpsters to avoid bear attacks.

Day 2: Excited for a real hike, we packed lunch and headed out for the day. When hiking down from laurel falls, we spotted our first bear, so close roaming just around the trail. Then we drove on the scenic Newfound Gap Road to Clingmans dome tower, taking pictures at lookouts. We stopped for lunch at Chimney tops picnic area and there again was a bear high up on the tree. The Clingmans dome trail was very steep and tiring but the tower, being in the center of the park, offered great views.

 Day 3: Alum cave Bluffs trail, this was the most strenuous of hikes till date for me. Evening we drove in the 11 mile one-way Cades Cove loop road which featured churches, mills and houses as remnants of Cherokee Indians (Native American Tribe) in 1800s and acres of grasslands in the beautiful valley. It was easy to locate deers and other wild life and biking and horse riding seemed popular.

Day 4: Explored south-east part of the park and hiked to Indian creek falls. On the way back to campground, we went to Cherokee. Very different from its counterpart Gatlinburg, it was very quiet, still stuck in 1950s with delightful museums, galleries and souvenir shops.

Day 5: Few stops at Gatlinburg and drove back home. This post would be incomplete without mentioning a special guest, our companion for the 9 hr drive back to A2. A SNAKE!!! Definitely interesting topic for the next post J

Smokies is very family friendly which is evident in all ages of people and huge crowds it draws every year. Few things we didn’t like: There would be miles of traffic whenever someone spot a bear, the trails are usually packed and the scenery is at times mediocre and not worth the drive and effort. Overall, it was good but exhausting and we had to plan for a second visit to explore the rest of the park.

And there we were, back to Smokies on a 6-day trip in May 2010. No doubt, it is very famous for its remarkable fall colors, but it’s beauty is no less in Summer. We stayed at the same Elkmont campground. This time we had lot of time, so spent our evenings reading novel (I got it from the campground office for free) sitting at campfire savoring chips and pop. We hiked to Rainbow falls, Abrams falls trail in the Cades Cove loop, Gabes Mountain trail to Hen Wallow falls, explored quiet walkways(unpaved trails into the forest) and the campground (we noticed there is a open air auditorium). This trip was very relaxing as opposed to the last one and white water rafting and the illuminant forest with thousands of fire flies at night were few highlights.