The drive to Cades Cove is along a lovely cool creek. But during the bike ride there was no sign of water anywhere.
Every Wednesday this loop trail is closed to traffic to encourage bike riding. Although, it was supposed to be an easy trail. However, it is 11 miles long and eventually even a small incline begins to feel like a large incline. I figured out that we must have stopped and walked our bikes at least 15 times during our trek. It was incredibly hot and we were soon out of water and energy bars.
We stopped at various historical markers including a cabin belonging to John Oliver. A new subterranean city was found beneath the cabin. We saw 4 bears in a meadow, a deer grazing on the bike path. A wild turkey crossed our path…
E-bikers zoomed by us as we watched these majestic animals in front of us. One old man was stopped for a break and he said he would never use an e-bike. We are not so sure… We love biking whistler and would like to continue to do so as long as we can. We’re not sure yet but we may become one of the e-bike sissies (cheaters).
Then we decided to stop at the one shady 7.5 mile mark to enjoy the Georgia Peaches we had picked-up.
When we got back to the car it was after 2pm. The lovely stream on the way looked very inviting to drink so we decided to fill up our bottles. The water was delicious. Along the way we found people swimming in one spot of the stream. The man we were speaking to was from a university in Tennessee and loved coming here to swim.
The man mentioned that this was their favorite spot to swim. He said, when the levels are high they can swim through the hole in the wall. This is a fairly dangerous hike to Abrams Falls. The swimming hole opens up in spring and early fall. Located in the popular nature attraction Cades Cove, Abrams Falls has a deep swimming hole that attracts visitors between late spring and early fall. The swimming hole is about 100 feet wide in all directions, so swimmers have plenty of room to swim on even the busiest of days.
We noticed that the man had with him a full bottle of water and we asked him if it was safe to drink. We later found-out that he had a portable filter for his drinking water. But he did say that he saw a hellbender salamander in the water. This salamander is known to only live in the cleanest streams. I had to look this up!
Okay! I will survive!
When we returned I made organic bow pasta with stir fried snow peas and asparagus. The protein that I used was tofu scramble which I put on toast. I used black salt on the tofu scramble and turmeric for the color. The great thing about black salt unlike pink salt, it has a subtle sulfuric smell exactly mimicking the taste of eggs! We ate outdoors on the picnic table!
Our evening was a quiet one as we decided to watch some episodes of The 90s show and I submitted my completed files with the proper compliance and disclosures to my boss. These are the regulations that we have to go through as mortgage brokers before we can be paid. Unlike most people, I like being organized with all my compliance. It gives me piece-of-mind. I like the feeling of having done the right thing for my clients, disclosing the risks to my lenders and keeping records of all my correspondence. It was a satisfying day!