CATTALOOCHEE VALLEY; MAGGIE VALLEY; WATERFALLS & CANADIANS

I wanted to give some parting thoughts and pictures on Cattaloochee Valley, the town of Maggie Valley, some great waterfalls, and some great people.

First of all, several people told us to be sure and go to Cattaloochee Valley and see the elk.  Right where we exited for our campground, there was a sign pointing to Cattaloochee Valley. So, one evening, Mr. W suggests we go see if we can find the elk.  We take off and follow the signs.  Actually, Cattaloochee Valley is part of Smokey Mountain National Park. 

We start going up a mountain and following the road, however, I notice that the road seems to be a bit narrow as compared to the road going through the main parts of the park.  But, what the heck, it can't be bad, right?  We keep going up the mountain and the road starts doing blind curves and switchbacks.  Now my anxiety level is starting to rise.  Remember, I'm afraid of heights.

About 3/4 of the way up Mr. W happens to mention, "By the way, I think this road turns to gravel." What? Gravel? As in bumpy, makes the tires slip gravel? On top of this mountain? Is it too late to say that I want out?

Anyway, we continue up and sure enough there are bumps, ruts, steep grades, blind curves, and descending cars that want us to share the road.  Did I mention that we are not against the mountain? We are on the outside of the road.  You know, the part where you FALL OFF OF THE MOUNTAIN! Now my anxiety level is WAY, WAY up there.  There is also no guardrail except for a 2 ft. high brick wall, occasionally.  A lot of good that would do, right?  By this time, my feet are tingling and my hands are sweating.  I'm pretty sure that there was some beautiful scenery to see but I was too scared to look.  Mr. W kept saying, "You should take some pics because I can't look."  Yeah, he better not be looking!

We finally get back on paved road about 1/2 way down the other side and once you are at the bottom, you are in Cattaloochee Valley.  There are some beautiful fields that the elks feed in every evening.  This particular evening, there were 17 elk in the field.  Awesome.

I figured since I lived on the way there, I would probably live on the way back. Also, after making Mr. W check, there was no other way into or out of the valley. So, I calmed down some and was able to take a few pics. :)

Maggie Valley is a town stuck in time.  You can tell by driving through that this town was developing and probably flourishing during the 60s but at some point, their development slowed way down or stopped.  As you drive down the road (notice I said THE road), you come to realize this.  Instead of hotels, you have motels or some of the signs say motor court.  You know, the kind where the swimming pool is in the front and is really small.  The kind where all the rooms are on ground level in a long line and there is no second floor.  For those of you born in probably the 80s or after, you have no idea what I'm talking about.  But, this is the kind of accommodations that were around when I was a young girl growing up.  The restaurants are the same.  Something interesting was that there were probably 7 restaurants in the town and each one was closed on a different day.  I guess that is a good thing since you only had 7 to choose from in the first place.  The people were nice but several merchants talked about how the economy was not good there.  It really was a blast from my past. I was sort of glad that there was still a town around like that.

One of the few multi-story accommodations

The miniature golf

We had seen so many waterfalls in this area and didn't even begin to put a dent in the number that are around here.  But, on our last day here, we decided to go see some more waterfalls.  Geez, I'm glad we did. I can sit and watch and listen to waterfalls all day long.

When these guys jumped in, you could hear them yelling for a long way! It must have been cold. :)

This is Dry Falls.  Not sure why they named it that.



Beautiful

From behind the falls.

I forgot the name of this falls, but as you can see, you could drive behind the falls for a photo op.

Last but not least, you remember I told you that we meet some of the greatest people on this journey.  Well, meet Frank and Lise.

They are French Canadians.  They are originally from Quebec but have lived in Ontario for awhile.  They are retired and travel several months out of the year but are now on their way back home.  They travel in their Class A motorhome and bring their motorcycle to ride around on.  They were a lot of fun and we had a lot in common.  Safe travels to you, my new friends.  I hope our paths cross again.