Cousin Camp: Day 4

Day 4

of Cousin Camp

brought an adventure in the 

Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

We began our day at the...

...Sugarlands Visitor Center.

The kiddos always enjoy checking out the mini-museum

and gift shop,

plus we got in one last potty break before

we headed up to the..

...Laurel Falls.

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Before we even got on the trail,

we ran into one of nature's little surprises...

...a young Copperhead!

See-

this is the stuffed one from the 

Visitor's Center.

Poor thing-

I am certain he was more scared of us

than we were of him.

(And NO, we did NOT get too close to him-

I took that picure with my zoom lens...)

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After looking at the snake,

we headed up the trail.

Now, 

to make the hike even more fun,

we used...

...THIS Scavenger Hike Adventures Book.

We followed clues...

...like the ones above

and discovered a lot more about the trail

than we would have if we hiked it

without the book.

Here is what we discovered:

1.  Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron

 2.  The "Jungle"

 3.  A Pine Tree That was Killed by

Southern Pine Beetles

4.  The Second Growth Forest

5.  The Trees Twisted by the Wind

6.  A Tree Growing Through an 

8-Foot-Tall Boulder

(The kiddos had a great time exploring the boulder!)

7.  The Bench by the Stream That Never Runs Dry

8. Roots Climbing Over and On a

Large Group of Rocks

9. The Smokey Mountain

"Produce Department"

(aka Blueberry Bushes)

 10. Blanket Mountain

11. A Group of Jammed Up Rocks

12. Rock Tripe

13.  The Dynamite Hole

14.  The Bright Yellow Lichen

15.  The Dripping Rocks

16.  The Galax

(Shiny Leaves Used by Florists)

17.  Laurel Falls!

18.  The View from the Upper and Lower Falls

 (This is the spot you can see both levels of the falls from,

but I couldn't get a good picture of both levels

at the same time.)

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We had a great time cooling off in the falls-

until Baby Girl fell and hit her head...

Ouch!

(She was OK-

don't worry...)

So once I calmed her down,

we put our shoes back on and headed back

down the mountain.

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We stopped at Maloney Point

to enjoy some lunch...

...and the view.

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We just love...

...the Great Smokey Mountains!