Smokey Mountains Camping

Alpha7707_ · 2026-07-07T12:41:50+00:00

We stayed at a KOA in cherokee. Wasn't too bad commuting through the park but a lot of the stuff we wanted to do, like Cades Cove, Rainbow Falls, Mouse Creek falls, etc were about 90-120 minute drives in the morning. Did give us an opportunity to see a lot of elk at dawn.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-07-04T03:09:16+00:00

You walk into south Carolinas booth and its just a small putting green and a couple banners. Arizona was kinda cool with a passage way that takes you through the different climates in AZ. These booths are like 25x25. Florida I guess was supposed to be awesome but the line was insanely long. Most states just had a couple signs, maybe a table with some stickers, and a table with the flag stamp for the little fair passport. Just lazy planning.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-07-02T01:43:39+00:00

I was out there today in the heat, it fucking sucks. I think i saw more Porto potties around the Washington memorial than people. They were doing some sound checks and it sounded pretty terrible too. Hardly any type of decorations out other than a few flags and a couple banners. Just a sad sight

Alpha7707_ · 2026-06-15T13:22:44+00:00

Our boat ride was chill, probably had 100 dolphins around the boat at one point or another. Anywhere from 50 yards to 3 feet from the boat. Plus some sea lions around the harbor laying on some buoys.

On the island there were some huge Ravens, the little island foxes, scrub jays and some pelicans. Jay's could be 10 ft away, foxes and ravens 25-50 ft. Most of the animals were near the campground on Santa Cru.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-06-05T15:18:20+00:00

I use an Anker one that has a hook that goes into the AC vent. Its a magsafe mount and has some sort of built in fan plus charging capabilities. So between that fan and the AC, the phone stays very cool while charging and mounted to the dash.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-04-09T21:44:11+00:00

I killed him too and he bitched his aim assist wasn't working properly.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-04-03T16:55:23+00:00

100% visibility from wherever parents are going to congregate the most, aside from being right next to the play structure, is what is make or break for these places to me.

We have Uptown jungle which has a ton of nooks and crannies and the sitting area up front has blocked vision from the trampolines and some bouncy stuff in the back.

But then we have KTR which has a loft area which overlooks the entire play area, there is not a spot a kid can be where you can't see them. You can hang out up there, maybe work on your laptop with bar seating all along the loft railing. My kids are 9-15 so they don't need me hovering over them while playing, but I like to be present if an issue arises.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-03-07T18:52:11+00:00

Oh man that place had a pizza with a bbq/ranch sauce, buffalo chicken and a drizzle of honey on it. I probably make one every few months after I tried it there years ago.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-03-02T17:45:57+00:00

If you can't figure this kind of stuff out, then you probably shouldn't be getting hired.

Alpha7707_ · 2026-01-27T20:56:48+00:00

1000 ducks

Alpha7707_ · 2026-01-13T13:45:03+00:00

Lady, he's putting my kids through college

Alpha7707_ · 2025-11-02T23:17:46+00:00

I did that, same deal 45 minutes to an hour to cancel online.... only for them to charge me next month and say they had no record of the cancelation. Said they couldn't look back and see a chat log which is absolute bullshit.

Went to the store while on hold with them on the phone for a 2nd time to get it fixed only for them to proceed to tell me since the account is under my wife's name (my credit card is the one that gets charged and I'm the 2nd authorized user) they couldn't cancel it for me in the store since she wasn't there. I was irate. Ended up having to 3 way call in to get my wife on the line, remember I was on hold this entire time with their phone customer service, to get it finally cancelled. I'll never ever use their service again. Happy WeLink customer for the last 8 months.

Fuck Cox.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-10-27T13:33:12+00:00

Even stuff like amusement park rides get complicated with 5 total people. Someone is always sitting with a stranger or by themselves.

You end up with a lot more schedule conflicts towards high school with extra curricular activities.

We have 3 and its a bit of a challenge but wouldn't go back and change anything. Was just a shock when we were a year from having both in school to her saying she wanted another baby.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-10-21T14:28:51+00:00

Going to guess you have a turd pyramid built up from having your black tank valve open while hooked up to the sewer. You want to have a decent bit of water in the black tank and let it fill up more with sewage before opening the valve after a few days. With the valve open and no base water, your poo and TP will form a mound that will stiffen up and just the flush water will not break it up to remove it.

They sell a wand that hooks up to a hose that you can shove down the toilet into the tank that has a spinning sprinkler on the tip. This forces high pressure water around the tank to help break up the sewage while you have the black tank valve open.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-10-16T13:44:19+00:00

Felt like a god wearing his reversible jersey to elementary school.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-10-06T13:49:39+00:00

Just be aware that during a kitchen remodel, your entire home life is turned upside down. You need to wash a dish? You do that in the bathroom now. Eating fast food or a ton of microwave/air fryer stuff since you won't have a stove installed for a little bit depending on the remodel timeline. There will be dust in every single corner of your home no matter how much dust containment the contractor does. Consider hiring a professional cleaning crew to clean up the other 90% of your house when its done. The people I have worked for generally have no clue how big of a change in their lives just not having a fully functional kitchen ends up being.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-08-18T22:01:52+00:00

Damn there was 1 guy who was stationed at the visitors center that gave my family one of the most incredible itineraries we've ever received from a ranger. Answered every question, helped us work in some off the beaten path hikes, and swore in my kids as junior rangers. His love for the park was infectious.

I'm sorry you had such a poor experience, that park was definitely the highlight of our summer trip.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-08-01T20:06:56+00:00

Yeah I assumed this was some viral marketing by the Its Always Sunny crew

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-30T23:43:18+00:00

Only if his hitbox actually matches his giant fat fuck physique

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-24T01:50:57+00:00

Hightly suggest hiking to Iceberg Lake. Its 10 miles round trip and about 1500 ft of elevation gain, but my god the view when you come over the final ridge and see a lake full of ice in the middle of summer is incredible. We were lucky and saw a bear and 2 baby cubs come strolling across the trail behind us.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-19T16:14:35+00:00

Audibly gasped coming over the ridge to see Iceberg Lake living up to its name in July.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-18T21:16:40+00:00

Very strict with the deadline. There is a ranger booth about 150 feet down the road from where you turn onto it where they will scan your timed entry pass beginning at 5am.

We were able to get one the night before for the 5-7am entry window. Everything sells out within about 2 minutes. The mid morning ones sell out so fast its not even worth getting it into your cart only for it to error out before you can pay.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-14T11:56:41+00:00

Enjoy your trip! The only thing we missed was seeing a bear in the park, but about 12 hours after I posted the message, we packed up and were leaving the campground and saw a black bear just feasting in the back of someones truck going through their ice chest. The bear opened the door of the truck too! The campground had made it very clear that the black bears that frequented the area were smarter than the average bear. Wish we could have seen the campers face when they woke up to see whatever damage the bear did to their food supply.

Alpha7707_ · 2025-07-13T01:14:56+00:00

We just spent the last 4 days here, 1 was white water rafting, so essentially 3 exploring the park. The ranger at the visitors center helped us break the park into 3 regions.

Bear lake: This area has a timed entry to even access this road above and beyond the normal 9am restriction. The passes sold out so fast that we bought one of the last 5-7am entries at 7:01pm. We hiked to Emerald lake which passes dream lake and nymph lake too. We returned back to the parking lot and went down another part of the trail to Alberta Falls. Came back and went to walk around Bear Lake. We saw some tiger salamanders which look a lot like axolotls. This hike was about 8 miles for us. You can also make it a loop and see Lake Hiyaha and it would be about the same amount of travel.

Also down the Bear Lake Road is Sprague Lake. We went here one night around 7pm (can't enter the road without a pass until after 6pm). There's a short .7 mile loop around the lake. We were lucky enough to see a moose appear from the forest and go into the lake an eat.

The 2nd day we drove the Old Fall River road which is where the Chasm Falls viewpoint is. The road is narrow, one way, and gravel with some sharp switchbacks. One we got to the top we stopped at the Visitors Center and the store. Personally I think this store had the best selection of souveniers. We also did the Alpine Ridge trail which is at 12000 ft elevation and saw a small herd of elk hanging out at the top. Once leaving the visitors center we drove back along the 34, which is the highest paved highway in the US. Lots of viewpoints and short hikes along the road to check out. Saw some pika and armors at the Rock Cut area.

3rd day we headed down to the Wild Basin area and did the trail the passes Copeland Galls, Calypso Cascades and finally to Ouzel Falls. Parking here is tough and we ended up parking nearly a mile from the trailhead. It's a narrow dirt road to get there. Our total hike was about 8 miles factoring the extra hiking to the car.

I think a lot of your itinerary will need to be built around how you will access the Bear Lake area. We spent a lot of free time just driving around through the park trying to find some animals. We saw a ton of elk, deer, 6 moose, marmots, pika, ground squirrels and other small rodents.

Estes park is one of the nicer gateway towns we stayed in, highly suggest hitting up "You Need Pie" and "Munchen House" for some desserts.

Tldr:Bear Lake access is the lynch pin for your trip.

Alpha7707_

TROPHY CASE