Camping in Cosby

This weekend we decided to head up to Cosby, TN on the Northeast side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for our first camping trip! We took a carload of camping gear including Bryans grandparent's 1960 canvas tent. It was awesome! This tent was last used by Bryan's Granfather and Dad on a hunting trip to Arkansas. They used to go in the Cherokee National Forest on trips. After some cleaning and waterproofing, the tent was ready to go. We had a fun time trying to figure out how to set it up, but we finally got it!

When we pulled into the camp site, Bryan slowed down in the middle of the road to stop and take some pictures of a Black Bear! We see them quite frequently when we're near the National Park, but it never gets old! At night we grilled hot dogs and of course, Smores. Our friends Justin and Ashley joined us for the night. We hiked around the camp ground and enjoyed the crisp night around the camp fire. The next day, we hiked an 8-mile trail to Ramsay's Cascade, a 90ft. waterfall high up near Mt. Guyot. Wow! It was tough. Although the picture looks like Bryan jumped in the river, it definitely was not from swimming! This trail is known for its HUGE trees. And, we definitely saw some big Tulip Trees. In the picture below, keep in mind Bryan's "wingspan" is close to 6 feet. Once we made it to the top, we relaxed for a few minutes then headed back down for dinner. On Sunday, we got up early to pack up! All in all our first camping trip was AWESOME! We had a great time.