Yesterday we went up to the Smokies for a cooling reprieve. It was hot up there. It was around 87 degrees in Cades Cove. Even though it was about 10 degrees cooler than Alcoa, it was hot.

We stopped at Abrams Falls trailhead just to mosey around. There were people returning from their hike to the falls and they looked pretty bad. They did not look happy. One family of three said they drank 5 bottles of water on their hike. They have signs for a lot of different things preparing people for the hike, but they don't say carry a lot of water.

We saw Mama bear and a cub 15 or so feet up in a tree. They were lolling around. Avoiding the heat I would guess.

This is the second time we have been to Cades Cove in the past 3 weeks. We went on a Thursday both times around 11:30am. Neither time was it too crowded. If you get a chance we recommend the trip.