Photos By Eric Weaver Photography

Eric and I finally finished the van and it was time to plan our first van trip. We both agreed that the mountains would be a great first van trip. So, we decided on going to the Great Smoky Mountains area. It was mid October and I have always wanted to see what the mountains are like during the fall.  We left for our trip from my home on the South Carolina coast. Our drive was about 6 hours to our first campsite. The first campsite was off of Bull Pen Road in Cashiers, North Carolina. You go past the old iron bridge about a half mile and it will be on your left. I believe the gps coordinates are 35.017650, -83.131775. When we arrived it was dark and we didn’t have any cell service for T-Mobile. There was a fire ring, but no picnic table. Once we got there we made dinner and were exhausted from the drive so we went to bed early. 

• 

• 

• 

We woke up around 9 and got ready for the day. Once we were dressed we hiked down to where the bridge was and took some pictures of the bridge and the rushing water. After we took pictures of the bridge we headed back to the campsite and loaded up the van. We drove into Highlands and found a cute spot off the road that had picnic tables and good service. I took advantage of the service and got some school work done. After I finished with some school work we headed out on 64 West to go check out our first waterfall. The first waterfall we saw was Bridal Veil Falls, and it was right off of the road on the right. It looked like at some point you were able to drive under it, but now you are only able to walk under it.

• 

• 

After we took pictures at Bridal Veil Falls we headed West on 64. The next waterfall we saw was Dry Falls. Dry Fall was located on the left and you had to pay $3. We parked and paid the fee then headed down several flights of stairs down to the waterfall. This waterfall was huge and you could also walk under it.

• 

• 

• 

Our next waterfall we were going to see was Bust Your Butt Falls. It was located on the left and it was small. It looked like you could swim in it, but the water was freezing since it was October. After we checked out Bust Your Butt Falls we headed back into Highlands to go to our next campsite. Our next campsite was called Ammons Branch (35.045738, -83.148651) and it was really nice. From what we saw there were about 4 campsites. We stayed at the first one on the right. It looks like you were supposed to park and then walk down to the site to pitch a tent, but we were able to drive our van down to park near the picnic table. The next day we just hangout at our campsite at Ammons Branch.

• 

• 

On the third day of our trip we woke up and got ready for the day. We packed up the van and headed to Whitewater Falls. While driving to the waterfall we stopped at a gorgeous lookout. The lookout didn’t have a sign, but I believe it was a lookout that was overlooking Lake Jocassee. After stopping at the lookout we got back on the road. We pulled into the parking lot for Whitewater Falls and it was also a small fee of I believe $3. In order to see Whitewater Falls you have to walk down a path to a platform and it has multiple viewing areas. We took some pictures at the first viewing area then we walked down flights of stairs to the second viewing area. This waterfall was by far my favorite waterfall that I have ever seen. 

• 

• 

• 

After checking out Whitewater Falls we got back on the road again to check out Toxaway Falls. Toxaway Falls is located in Lake Toxaway, and it is a bridge that crosses over the falls. I feel like you need to know about it and where it’s located, because it’s easy to miss while driving. We pulled off the road and parked. Eric and I walked over to the bridge to check it out and take some pictures. After we took some pictures we headed back to the van to see where we were going next. Eric and I wanted to check out Sliding Rock near Brevard, but the website said it was closed. We tried to start the van to leave, but the van wouldn’t start. We tried starting it multiple times, but no luck. Thankfully Eric packed jumper cables so he dug them out from the back of the van. We sat on the side of the road waiting for someone to stop and help us. We waited about 10 minutes then a tow truck driver stopped and asked if we needed a tow. We told him that we wanted to try jumping the battery. He parked in front of us and we tried jumping the van multiple times, but we couldn’t get it to work. We knew that a tow was going to cost a lot of money so Eric tried getting a hold of his insurance company, but no luck. The tow truck driver said he would give us a tow through his company so we did that. We got towed from Lake Toxaway to Hendersonville which was about an hour drive. Once we got to the mechanic we only waited 5 minutes before they started checking it out. After about 15 minutes of them working they were finished and the van was started. The problem turned out to be not a good connection to the battery. We were planning on staying the night at Pisgah National Forest, but decided not to since we didn’t want to risk the van having any other mechanical issues and being stuck in a forest. So, we decided to stay the night at the Walmart located in Hendersonville. We headed over to the Walmart and we were surprised by how pretty it was. You could see the mountains and all the pretty leaves from our parking spot. After having a long day we decided to get some sleep. 

• 

• 

• 

We woke up pretty early and wanted to get an early start on our day. First on our list of things to do was hike Frying Pan Lookout Mountain. In order to get to Frying Pan Mountain Lookout we needed to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway which Eric and I were very excited for. We stopped at a couple scenic lookouts and took more pictures. While driving to Frying Pan Lookout Mountain I could see how high and far it was. I was starting to get nervous, because I haven’t hiked in a long time. We parked the van and we started our hike up. Once we got to the top I was a little nervous to climb the staircase up so I told Eric that he could and I would just wait. It was so warm up on top of the mountain. Eric climbed the first two flights of stairs and took some pictures. He said it was extremely windy up there. We hiked back down the mountain and drove to a recreational area to eat some lunch.

• 

• 

• 

 After eating lunch we got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to check things out. We drove past Sliding Rock and we saw a lot of people there so we wanted to check it out. Apparently it wasn’t closed like we thought, it was just closed for sliding, but you could still view it. Even though you weren’t supposed to slide down we saw a couple slide down a few times which was funny to watch, the water was so cold. Next, we wanted to check out Looking Glass Falls. It was located on the left but super busy so we stopped only for a few pictures. We were super tired and decided to head to Walmart in Brevard to stay the night.

• 

• 

• 

The next day we drove to Lake Santeetlah near Robbinsville (35.368693, -83.843902). There was a lot of marked campsites, but they were all full except #1. We obviously decided to take it! It was by far our favorite campsite. It was right on the lake. The lake was extremely cold, but Eric wanted to do the rope swing. I never did the rope swing, because I was too scared it wouldn’t be able to hold me. I did get in the water occasionally though. We just really enjoyed sitting by the lake and relaxing. We spent a few days at Lake Santeetlah. We even took a drive over to Bryson City to check out The Road To Nowhere.

• 

• 

• 

• 

After spending a few days at the lake it was time to go check out some more places. We wanted to go to Cades Cove in Tennessee. We had about a 2 hour drive to Cades Cove so we stopped for lunch at Tapoco Tavern in Robbinsville. After eating we finished our drive over to Cades Cove. Cades Cove is a 11 mile one way loop that features animal sightings, views of mountains and fields, and historic structures. During our drive we saw some horses and we stopped to check them out. We continued our drive and we saw two bears. After we completed the loop we headed over to Sevierville, Tennessee to stay at Walmart.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The next day we planned to go back to Lake Santeetlah, because we just couldn’t stay away from it. On our drive from Sevierville to Robbinsville we stopped in Cherokee. Cherokee had a skate park and Eric wanted to check it out. It was much warmer there so we only stayed about an hour or two. When we got back to the Lake, Eric and I “tried” to fish. We only caught a couple of small fish, but we still had fun trying. We stayed at the lake one more day!

• 

• 

• 

It was now our last full day of our trip and we wanted to head back to Hendersonville to shorten our drive back home. We decided to drive to Hendersonville by taking the Blue Ridge Parkway. While in the van I started to get motion sickness so we pulled over for me to relax in the bed while Eric took some pictures. After I started to feel better we continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We finished the parkway and it was about 2pm so we decided to find a park to hangout at instead of Walmart. We found a skatepark at Patton Park. Eric skated for a while and I worked on some school work. After we were done with being at the skate park we headed to Janitzio to get some Mexican food. After eating dinner we headed to Walmart to get rested. We woke up the next morning and filled up on gas. We had a 4 ½ hour drive back to my house in SC so we left pretty early. Overall our first van trip was pretty amazing, even though we had some hiccups along the way. I can’t wait for another van trip with Eric and we are definitely bringing Cleo with us next time! 

• 

• 

• 

•