Two fer

 11/11- Big Meadow Campground 

   We pretty much froze our butts off last night. The furnace ran almost all night and the windows were all covered in ice in the morning. We stayed tucked under the covers as long as possible before braving the elements. 

    We waited a while for the sun to come up but even that didn’t seem to help much. So we went for a hike. It started out nice and level and we saw lots of deer. In fact I would call these pet deer as they were not at all afraid of us. We could walk right up to them before they decided to notice us. After about a mile the trail dropped down into a steep valley. We were at this point following the stream. Eventually we reached the bottom and were treated to a spectacular waterfall. It was even warmer down in this deep crevice. 

    We then followed a fire road back up to Skyline drive and crossed over to the Appalachian trail which took us back to the campsite. It was really windy along this stretch and it continued to be cold. We huddled in the camper the rest of the day having got a 4 mile hike in we earned our naps. 

   An interesting fact we learned yesterday about this park was that most of it was acquired through eminent domain. They actually displaced multiple families to get the land. A woman had done a study of the inhabitants and concluded they were incapable of taking care of themselves in modern society. They used this study to justify the taking of their land. It sort of leaves a sour taste when you realize that these people were marginalized so that this park could happen. So I thank these folks for their sacrifice as we enjoy their land. 

    Also I would like to wish any veterans out there a good Veterans day. 

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