May 25, 2011. Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The Pavilion.

It is a beautiful spot, right beside a creek in the middle of a dense forest.   The owners of The Buckberry Creek Resort have built a beautiful open pavilion with a corner fireplace along with various sitting areas close to the creek.  The temperature by the creek in the forest was 78 degrees.  When we left our room at the top, it was almost ninety.  We were counting on shade and cool, once we got into the forest.

Now we are  walkers but we are level walkers, while the hike from the resort to The Pavilion was right down the mountain.  Fortunately they had placed the trail in such a way that we were able to handle all the switchbacks on the way down, but it was still a steep hike down to the creek.  Ken and I were enjoying the creek noise and the bird sounds, relaxing in the Adirondack chairs just placed for our enjoyment but wondering how on earth we would get ourselves up the steep climb when a wonderful thing happened.  We heard a motor,  then a vehicle appeared and a young man from the resort offered us a ride up to the top on a secret road up the other side.  Whew.  We were delighted to jump in the truck.  But we loved sitting by the creek.