Wayah Bald–Franklin, NC

Kris and Dan had another favorite location to share with us in the mountains surrounding Franklin, so we made plans to meet on Saturday for a trip up to Wayah Bald.

But first, we all joined many of the local residents of Franklin to pay respects to a WW2 sailor who had died on the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He had been officially listed as missing until 2015 when DNA testing of some previously unidentified remains was done and matched to living relatives. 

Seaman 2nd class Frank Wood was being brought back to Franklin, NC, the home of his nearest living relative, for burial. and most of the town turned out to pay their respects during the procession Saturday morning to the cemetery.

There was a really good turnout – it was nice to see so many people there to welcome this Sailor home!

After the procession, we all got in our Jeep and headed up the mountain!

The road started out paved and steep, and the last 5 miles were gravel, narrow, winding and steeper!

There were several cute cabins along the way.

We reached the end of the road,

parked the Jeep, and walked to the tower at the Bald.

During the fires last year in Gatlinburg and other areas of the Smoky Mountains, the roof of the tower was lost and all of the surrounding area was burned out.

The roof was replaced this spring, but it will take a while for the vegetation to return.

The view was beautiful,

and we climbed to the top of the tower for an even better view.

It was a little windy and chilly up there, though!

Great photo op!

Tom & I

Kris & Dan

and a selfie of all four of us!

The Wayah Bald lies in the path of the Appalachian Trail,

and we saw a few hikers up there.  Kris happens to be following these two on Facebook, and was surprised and excited to see them at the Bald, so she caught up with them and chatted for a few minutes.

Before heading back down, we had to pose the Jeep for a photo op, too!

The drive down the mountain seemed to take a lot less time than the drive up – why is that!?!  We did make one stop at the old Ranger Station so I could get a few pictures of the old cabin.

It was a beautiful day, and another great non-tourist location!  Thanks, Kris & Dan, for sharing your favorite place with us!

Sunday was a day of almost constant rain, so we just hung out at home all day, and we were scheduled to leave on Monday, but the weather at our next destination was not looking too good --  rain/snow mix and freezing temperatures for Monday.  Since we had to drive through the mountains, we decided to wait an extra day before moving – we weren’t in any hurry!