Deep Creek, 1

We were at the Deep Creek area and campground in the Smokies most of August 1-20. There were brief respites back in Knoxville to get Le Sport's alternator/regulator replaced, briefly in the World Capital of Tawdriness (Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville), and then in Waynesville, NC, to meet Rebecca and Penelope, who had driven over from Cary, NC, where they'd moved in April. Penelope was with us the last six days at Deep Creek, where we enjoyed hiking, tubing on the creek, campfires, camp cuisine, and playing the Paris art/architecture card game. Grandma and Grandpa did the creek tubing once each, the mild zone, but Penelope did the mild and moderate zones quite a few times, becoming expert at getting unstuck and at navigating the white water. The older (and heavier) river-runners in our party judged Deep Creek to be quite shallow--one local veteran said he'd never seen it so shallow--but not too shallow for an 11-year-old.

En route from Knoxville to Bryson City, after a big storm

Locals cutting the tree into manageable pieces, then moving it

A pretty waterfall contributing to Deep Creek

Another; no tubing beyond this point

Rhododendrons all around the creeks and hillsides; blooming
in May/June, we were told

Curious orange flowers...

"Mushrooms!"

Busy weekend day on the creek

Not our first visit to Deep Creek...Vicki in 1976

Losing but not big at the Cherokee/Caesar's casino

In Gatlinburg; tawdriness can be amusing in small
doses; in Tennessee, the world's longest such stretch
runs ten miles from Sevierville through Pigeon Forge
to Gatlinburg

We used to think the place worth a visit and an amusing blog post;
not anymore; it's just repulsive, in so many ways

With Rebecca and Penelope, at the estimable Frog Level Brewing
Company in Waynesville, NC

Penelope viewing the big waterfall

On a reconnaissance of the creek

Our campsite at Deep Creek; we didn't know it, but it would be
our last such outing in Le Sport...[cue ominous foreshadowing music...]

Penelope has befriended a butterfly

Embarking on their first run

Grandma tubing the big waters

And Penelope, eddied-out

To be continued...