Adventures of a Mntn_Laydee: The places one will go!

Places I have been:

Fall Creek Falls, TN State Park offers some of the most spectacular scenery in the South. Over half the park is designated a natural area wilderness. Numerous spectacular water falls and streams grace the park. A 345 acre lake has yielded state record bluegill and channel catfish.

This picture is of the
"The Bluffs" where we were swimming while camping
at the park.

Cabins

The Park features 20 two-bedroom, one-bath cabins and 10 three-bedroom, two bath villas.
There are also 10 landside cabins located on a hill overlooking the lake.

Camping

The park has 228 campsites in three different areas. All sites have tables, grills, water, and electricity and are served by six bathhouses. Fifty sites have sewer connections. Ice and firewood may be purchased year-round. Nine primitive walk-in sites and 3 primitive camping areas on the overnight trails are also available.
CHECK OUT TIME IS 12:00 NOON. All campsites should be vacated or re-registered by that time each day.

Park Inn

The Fall Creek Falls Inn is situated on scenic Fall Creek Lake and has 145 guestrooms with lake views. All rooms have full baths, cable TV, and coffeemakers. The Inn also features an heated outdoor swimming pool, fitness room, and game room for guest use.

Hiking Trails
Are abundant at this State Park...over 34 miles of them....one should try them out!

Cherokee National Forest

The Cherokee National Forest is located in Eastern Tennessee and stretches from Chattanooga all the way to Bristol along the North Carolina border.

The 640,000-acre forest is the largest tract of public land in Tennessee. It lies in the heart of the Southern Appalachian mountain range, one of the world's most diverse areas.
This area offers many annual festivals, historic towns, museums, waterfalls, lakes and countless recreation opportunities.

I was in the Cherokee National Forest the day that little six year old Elora Petrasek was attacked by a black bear at Benton Falls. We were about a mile away when I heard the sirens and all the commotion.

We were about to change locations when a forest ranger riding by spotted us climbing up an embankment. He stopped and said that they were closing this area of the Forest that we needed to move on and to be on the lookout that they were tracking a black bear that just attacked a family and killed a little girl. Needless to say after hearing that, I no longer felt the need to explore...... I was so sad that I cried for months, I even saved a picture of the little girl on my computer...."why?" one might ask....she was a stranger, someone I had never met. That has nothing to do with the fact that I somehow was mad at myself, I felt like maybe, just maybe, if I would have been there at the falls that day......she maybe wouldn't have died. I just don't understand how someone would have missed the little girl running away and didn't think to grab her to protect her. Of course, I didn't witness the horrible attack.....so I can not say what I would have been able to do.....but I still tear up when I read about it or look at her picture.

I practice photography and have dedicated a picture that I had taken of the river just minutes before the ranger stopped and told us what had happened. As soon as I stepped down off the cliff down at the riverbank a hundred butterflies rose up from the ground and fluttered around me for a minute as I giggled like a little girl and then they gently flew toward the sky. It felt so magical, so peaceful almost fairytale like.....I like to think that was Elora's spirit going toward Heaven, it brings me peace. (I will upload that picture as soon as I get it off of my other computer)

One of the most beautiful and popular attractions in the forest is Benton Falls.
The beauty of mother nature, reveals herself in more ways than one here.
On April 17, 2008, I visited Benton Falls with my children while on Spring Break. While talking to Park Rangers I discovered that I missed Elora's mother Susan, only by one day. She

had come back to visit the spot that changed her life forever. I thought about the date on the way up to TN but got so wrapped up in sight seeing and spending time with my girls that it slipped my mind that it was the two year anniversary. We were still camping in GA at the time. I wish I would have been able to meet her, I just wanted to tell her that many people shared in her pain....even now.

Read more:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/may/05/moms-return-to-spot-of-bear-attack-a-step-toward/

UPDATE! I made contact with Susan! We exchanged phone numbers and chatted for a bit on facebook.

See conversation below:

A photo dedicated to Elora :)

Hi Susan, I commented to you somewhere else online but I dont know if it posted or where it was it's been probably a year ago. Just having one of my "nights" where I cant sleep so I was doing some photo editing and ran across this photo again.

I was in the forest the day that Elora passed. I was only about a mile from the scene. It literally changed my life... I tried to come back in hopes to see you when you came for the two year memorial but I missed you by one day. I just wanted to hug you and cry along with you. I really had a hard hard time with this for a while, I guess because I felt like I was so close that I may have been able to do something if I would have been there to help. At least I like to think that I could...we all do.

Know that I think of her often especially when I hike in TN. I dedicated a picture to her that I took where hundreds of butterflies rose up from the ground and surrounded me when I stepped down off a rock onto the riverbank while in the forest right around the time it happened.

I know it was her spirit going to Heaven it was just soooo surreal.

I want you to have this photo so it is yours to do whatever you would like with it because I dedicated that to Elora. Maybe you can put it on her website. Praying that you and Luke are doing well...what is he about 6 now? My....time sure does slip away quickly.

Thinking of you and yours,

Kristi
*Above photo is not the photo that I took nor sent Susan. That photo is on a hard drive that I need to recover before I can add it to my page. This is very very similar though, just to give you the idea of what it looked and felt like that day.
September 15, 2010
9/15, 6:29pm

Susan Cenkus

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful photo with me. i will be happy to put it on her website. Perhaps you were in the forest at the same time not to save us but to help Elora's light to shine on. Please feel free to call me sometime and we can talk. I am actually in TN right now. (I still love to hike here.) My phone number is 419-XXX-XXXX.

*There is not a trail I hike, that I do not think of Elora* KB

Cherokee National Forest Recreation Description.

Popular recreation activities on Cherokee National Forest lands include hiking, camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, horseback riding, mountain biking, hunting, orienteering, bird watching, and nature photography.
Most developed campgrounds are open from late Spring through Fall on a first-come, first-served basis. For those who prefer camping without developed amenities, primitive camping is permitted throughout the Cherokee National Forest unless posted. Each Ranger District has a number of picnic areas along shady streams and lakes or within view of spectacular mountain scenery. Individual sites are equipped with tables and grills.

Recreation Activities listed below.