We set the alarm for 5.30am to get an early start for our hike. We drove 30 mins down a gravel road and parked at a small parking spot at the trail head. But there was no sign to say we were in the right place, or even if there was a trail here. And we were the only ones there.

I felt a bit nervous in the middle of nowhere but Mike said they don’t put signposts in national forests.

The path was well formed, but at the first sign of getting lost or seeing a bear this early in the morning, I was heading back to the car!

But, thankfully it was a good track all the way and a wonderful walk alongside the river. Mike only walked into one spider web.

After about an hours walking we came to a neat waterfall that you could walk around behind it. I was tempted to have a swim but didn’t.

We hadn’t seen anyone on our walk which we thought was strange on a sat morning, but when we were almost back at the car, streams of people started walking in, looked like a hiking group with their poles.

It was 9.30 by the the time we got back to the car. It had been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours and it was already hot and humid.

When we’d arrived we were the only ones, now there were cars parked along the narrow road. Mike tried to reverse out and went over a steep bit and the bike rack wedged in the gravel. It was just as well otherwise he would have hit a parked car as he’d misjudged it. I’d offered to get out and guide him but he said I didn’t need me to.

He managed to drive back up to the parking space. I decided guide him and told him he would have to reverse out the same way he went in and turn around up the road somewhere. I asked a couple who had just arrived if there was somewhere to turn around and they said about half a mile up the road.

I went back to tell Mike only to see him trying to turn the van around in the tiny carpark. He was about the crash the bikes into a wall so I shouted for him to stop. Thankfully he heard me. I don’t think he has gotten used to the extra length with the bikes on.

I guided him out the way we went in, found a place to turn around and finally we were on our way.

There were a few other waterfalls and walks we wanted to do, but it absolutely bucketed down with rain, so we kept on driving.

It was another long day driving today, and we lost an hour going east. There seemed to be nowhere to stop and camp without heading way off our route. Then about 6pm we saw a sign to the national forest and found a full, but very nice campground by a lake where I had a swim.

We are now about 2 hours drive from the great smoky mountains, where we plan to stay a few days and drive the blue ridge parkway to Virginia.